Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Cheyenne Mountain Zoo News

Tamu, the oldest living giraffe in the US is turning 32 tomorrow. She is also the great grandmother to the zoo’s youngest giraffe, Rae.
 
In an email sent out to members, the zoo announced that their female Sumatran orangutan, Sumagu, is pregnant with her third baby. They zoo has been doing ultrasound training with her everyday (viewable during the daily public training session) and expect her to give birth in May or June. This is exactly what the zoo was hoping for when they added new outdoor spaces for the orangutans this past summer. Because the zoo houses 5 orangutans of both species, space was limited and Sumagu was on birth control until after new spaces were added.
 
In another email just sent out to members, the zoo announced that two female giraffes (Muziki and Lakipia) are expecting. The zoo has had 199 successful giraffe births since the 1950s so there is a race to see which calf will be number 200. Both females were bred this time last year and one female has a tenetive due date of April 30th but since they were bred at the same time, both due dates should be similar.

The zoo also announced plans to set up a live birth camera in the giraffe barn as the due dates get closer so that people can watch the “race to 200” live.
 
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What about their mountain tapirs? Any chance to get any offspring there?
Unfortunately, due to the female’s age and health, the act of breeding has become too risky for her. Because of this, the male is separated when she goes into estrus. So the likelyhood of offspring is very low.
 
The zoo is closing in on $2 million raised by its Quarters for Conservation programs and will be celebrating with free giraffe feedings for that day.

Article1-Mar2018 | CMZoo
 
Amur tiger, Ivan was euthanized late Tuesday after years of dealing with chronic health issues. The zoo is not positive yet on his diagnosis but suspects cancer or an autoimmune disorder.

The zoo has 1 tiger remaining, Chewbacca, who came about a year ago from the Columbus Zoo.
 
No news on giraffe births yet. Muziki was due sometime last week and Lakipia is due tomorrow.

Heavy construction near the Sky Ride in preparation for the new Edventure building has been blocking off the road from giraffes to the new hippo exhibit construction. That building is set to be completed by Winter. It will have a few outdoor mews for education birds.

Poppy, the new red-necked wallaby baby has been hopping out of her mom's pouch more often.

The two groups of orangutans have switched indoor exhibits in preparation for Sumagu's birth. She's due in June.

The new pizza restaurant is set to be completed in early June.

The zoo celebrated reaching $2 million raised through its Quarters for Conservation programs on April 23. They had an "animal parade" to celebrate.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Celebration | Colorado Springs Gazette Photo Gallery

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo visitors donate $2 million for conservation
 
Mexican gray wolf pups were born at the zoo last night and into this morning. This is the first time in 18 years the zoo has had a successful birth of the species. The zoo is not releasing information on the confirmed number of pups but I have seen them on the den cam and it is significant.
 
The wolf litter is confirmed at 7 which is what I counted in the den yesterday morning.
 
Mexican gray wolf pups were born at the zoo last night and into this morning. This is the first time in 18 years the zoo has had a successful birth of the species. The zoo is not releasing information on the confirmed number of pups but I have seen them on the den cam and it is significant.
Any particular reason(s) for that? I could think of like an AZA non-breeding pair exhibit only as per conservation breeding program or perhaps some form of incompatability .... Not knowing what has transpired prior, I wonder if you can fill us in on what group compositions have been around in the past.

BTW: Great that CM Zoo in Colorado Springs can finally bring good tidings as in a set of Mexican wolves cubs now!!! This particular recovery program with a strong captive-breeding component is actually really close to my heart with the in situ support and reintroduction trial program AZA is working with the US FWS and the Mexican PROFEPA.

As for the latter: I am also wondering (and somewhat perturbed by) what is cooking lately in terms of wildife conservation over there. As you may acknowledge the USA South-West has suffered significantly over the last century or so in terms of larger and iconic wildlife (e.g. wolf, jaguar, pronghorn et al). It has been a real battle to even get Mexican wolves out into the wilds down in Arizona and New Mexico way (and in 2 native National Forest Reserves to that ...). The Sonoran pronghorn ...., well even with only a fence-line, the lack of predators to keep coyotes in check ... (parrallel to Yellowstone experience with wolves versus coyotes and the positive side-effects in terms of other wildlife and prior forest damage) between the USA and Mexico these had been severely impacted (... not to mention - goodness forbid - that the new "administration" will get their way with a "Wall").
 
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