We Love Our Volunteers!

Do you ever wonder how we clean, feed and care for hundreds of animals everyday? It is not magic, it is our volunteers!

April is the time of year when we reflect upon the amazing impact our volunteers have had on the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo! Our Docents are over a hundred strong and help shape our education programs. We have fifty adult volunteers who lend a hand anywhere they are needed. This can range from animal care and cleaning, horticulture, education and administrative work. We have large groups of students, military personnel and adults who come in for a day and take on large projects and assist with special event operations. Summer is around the corner and you will soon be seeing teens on zoo grounds helping animal keepers and educating the public. It takes many helping hands to make the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo run smoothly!

We are currently looking for groups to come and volunteer at this year's Run to the Shrine on May 19th. This is one of the zoo’s largest fundraising events of the year. Receive a Run to the Shrine t-shirt when you volunteer.

Do you want to be a part of the volunteer family? More information: http://cmzoo.org/getInvolved/volunteer/

Rocky Mountain Wild Questions Answered

The Hidden World of African Rift Valley

Ever wonder what lives beneath the giraffe barn in African Rift Valley? Or perhaps you didn’t realize there is a lower level to the building? Most people do not realize there is another world of animals that call African Rift Valley home, and these animals are not always visible to guests. From mischievous hornbills, to curious tortoises, to large African millipedes, we are going to introduce you to some unique animals with personalities as large as a giraffe.

Next time we will introduce you to some birds with huge bills and a knack for getting into trouble!

Quarters for Conservation

Cheyenne Mountain zoo is one of only 10 zoos in the U.S. currently participating in the Quarters for Conservation (Q4C) program. There are also 10 zoos hoping to begin participating very soon.  

The Q4C idea was started by Zoo Boise, but was taken to the next level here at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with on-site voting, fours year ago. The program raises funds by contributing $.25 of every zoo admission and a portion of memberships to conservation work around the globe. Half is allocated to ongoing flagship conservation projects like the black-footed ferret, Mexican gray wolf, and Wyoming toad breeding programs, and the other half is divided between six select conservation programs based on your votes.

 The selection process for the year’s featured animals begins with zoo employees submitting a proposal to champion a program. A Q4C committee, consisting of staff members from various departments, reviews the proposals based on strict criteria and selects just six programs. At the end of the year a percentage of the funds for the six programs is allocated based on your voting using a special token when you visit the zoo. Every visit and every vote counts.  

Here are the most recent Q4C Programs:

-         Protecting wild African vultures

-         Rescuing amphibians in Panama

-         Raising and Protecting wild African penguins

-         Releasing endangered gibbons back to the wild

-         Saving wild Amur leopards and tigers

-         Protecting wild orangutans and their forest habitat

Since 2008, Q4C has raised over $400,000. You’re changing the world one quarter at a time! Click here to learn more about each of the projects listed above.

 

Gummy Vitamins Aren’t Just For Kids!

It’s been reported that nearly half of all U.S. adults take a daily vitamin regiment to make up for the vitamins we are lacking in our diet. In fact, according to a recent USDA report, most Americans are consuming too few fruits and vegetables, high-fiber whole grains, seafood, and low-fat milk and dairy products. All of which are crucial to ensuring that we’re getting essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

Humans are not the only ones who use vitamins to balance out their diets; animals need a little balancing every now and then as well.

Our gorilla troop is unique. They have transitioned to a chow-free diet over the past year to a diet consisting of salad (the biggest portion of all Cheyenne Mountain Zoo animals) supplemented by several key vitamins. Below are examples of the vitamins and supplements our orangutans and gorillas receive along with a brief explanation of why they are beneficial.

• Emcelle tocopherol or vitamin E is used as a basic supplement in the gorillas’ diets.
• Flax oil is included in the gorillas’ daily regiment to help keep their skin healthy.
• Our silverback gorilla, Rafiki, is given cod liver oil on a daily basis to help keep his heart healthy.
• Calcium is traditionally given to nursing moms and orangutan females on birth control, to make sure they are getting their required intake.
• Childrens multivitamins are given to all gorillas due to their chow free diet. Godek, our youngest orangutan, is on the multivitamin as well because he is a growing young animal.
• Sumagu, Godek’s mother, receives a Men's One a Day and folic acid because she is still lactating. We use Men’s One a Day for apes because the high levels of iron found in multivitamins formulated for women are not the most beneficial for great apes.
• A Super B complex is given to Juju, one of our Western Lowland gorillas, on a daily basis for normal function of her nervous system. A while back she was curling her toes and limping, these symptoms disappeared with the addition of Super B complex to her vitamin regiment.
• Probiotic or ultimate flora is given to Rafiki and Juju, Western Lowland Gorillas, for inconsistent stools.

The apes receive the vitamins & supplements listed above in a variety of concoctions depending on the consistency of the supplement, the animal, their preferences and their diet restrictions.  Apple sauce and sugar-free fruit drinks are pretty helpful. Roxie, one of our Western Lowland gorillas, will only take her vitamin E with a peanut butter sandwich.  Most animals take the kids' chewable vitamins without any issues, except Kwisha, a Western Lowland gorilla, does not like the childrens' gummy vitamins!

Most zoo animals get vitamins and minerals in their chows, biscuits and grains. Vitamins are also included in some prepared canned foods given to the golden lion tamarins and marmosets.  The meat for our carnivores is specially formulated with vitamins and minerals, and the frogs and toads get their vitamins sprinkled on crickets and other insects.

Un-Coated Crickets

Coated Crickets

Our animals’ vitamin regiment is always changing depending on health issues, pregnancy or possible pregnancy, if the animal is lactating, or laying eggs.  Our vet staff works with our animal keepers to form the best combination of vitamins for each individual animal based on their current health needs.

Please visit out “Bear Necessities” page for more information about how you can help our animals receive their daily dose of vitamins and supplements for as little as $10.