KIMBA

The largest of our African elephant herd, Kimba weighs more than 10,200 lbs and stands 9.5 feet tall.  Born in 1978 at Kruger National Park in South Africa, Kimba came to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in 1981, along with Lucky.  Although she’s the biggest, Kimba is the middle elephant in our hierarchy of three.  She has a gentle personality and is very food motivated.  She is known for her love of eating, especially bananas, watermelons, pumpkins and cabbage. She, along with Lucky and Malaika, eats a total of more than 450 lbs of grain and hay per day! You can tell Kimba apart from Lucky and Malaika by her mismatched tusks; she has a long left tusk and a short right tusk, which she broke off in 2009. 

LUCKY

Lucky weighs about 8,200 lbs. and stands 9 feet tall.  Like Kimba, Lucky was born at the Kruger National Park in South Africa.  She came to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in 1981, when she was one year old.  Lucky has a very feisty personality and is a very playful elephant, who will play all day long if the other two let her (she is the lowest ranking elephant in our hierarchy of three).  Her favorite ways to play are by smashing, crushing, and demolishing all enrichment items that she can. 

Lucky also loves keeper interaction, and is very enthusiastic at training time, being particularly motivated by pumpkins, cabbage, watermelon and bananas.  She loves keeper interaction so much, however, that she’s been known to throw things (especially poop!) in their direction just to get their attention. One of her favorite enrichment activities is painting, and she has become famous for her beautiful works of art, which are proudly displayed in many homes and offices around the area.  You can recognize Lucky by her short tusks, which she uses often in play.

MALAIKA

The smallest and youngest elephant in our herd, Malaika, was born in 1986.  She weighs 7,800 lbs and stands 9 feet tall.  She may be the smallest elephant in our herd, but she is definitely mighty.  Malaika came to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in 2008, after a career in film and television with a private owner.  When she arrived, she quickly assumed the role of dominant female, using her confident and assertive personality to rise to the top of our group hierarchy.  She had no hesitation about meeting Lucky and Kimba, wanting to get close to them and investigate as soon as she arrived.

Although Malaika is the dominant elephant, she is a gentle and good-natured elephant who loves attention from her keepers (in fact, she demands it!) and particularly enjoys enrichment items like puzzle feeders.  Like Kimba and Lucky, Malaika gets more than an hour of one-on-one keeper time per day, with twice-daily training sessions.  Favorite foods include apples, watermelons and bananas.  Malaika has two equal tusks, which are longer than Lucky’s but shorter than Kimba’s. 

JAMBO

Jambo, which means “hello” in Swahili, is the newest addition to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s African elephant herd. She was born in Zimbabwe in 1983 and spent most of her life in the entertainment business before moving to the zoo last year. Jambo weighs 7,800 pounds and stands nine feet tall. She has the shortest tusks in the herd, but has a lot of hair compared to the other three.

Jambo is still getting to know Malaika, Kimba, and Lucky, but her outgoing personality will likely change the current social structure of the group. Jambo is a very energetic, eager to train elephant and is known for double-checking the locks in the barn with her trunk. She’s always looking to stay busy with animal care staff and enrichment activities.

AFRICAN LIONS

Our pride of African lions is made up of mother Angie, and three female cubs.  The cubs, Jamila, Zwena and Lomela, are part of  Angie’s sixth litter!  Angie is a fantastic parents.  Angie has always been protective and caring towards her cubs. All of our lions are food-motivated; they especially love beef bones, raw chicken, and pumpkins.  Our pride also loves to roll around in elephant and zebra poop, practicing the “scent masking” technique they would use in the wild to sneak up on their prey.    

BLACK RHINOCEROS

We are excited to welcome the intriguing black rhino back to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  These fascinating animals typically weigh 1,700-3,000 lbs and stand about 5 feet tall at the shoulder.  Black rhinos are generally dark gray or dark brown in color, not black as their name would imply.  They are herbivores, getting their nutrients primarily from hay, grain, and leaves.  The rhino’s horned nose gives them their distinctive look; the larger anterior horn can grow beyond 1 ½ feet!  This critically endangered species is solitary, preferring to spend its time alone when not mating or caring for a calf.  Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is thrilled to bring black rhino back to the Zoo and look forward to introducing you to the newest member of our Zoo family soon.

MEERKATS

Native to Southern Africa, meerkats live in deserts and arid scrublands. They have a very unique and specific social structure, making them fascinating to kids of all ages. Because meerkats are a favorite species of many of our guests, we are looking forward to adding a second mob of meerkats to our Zoo family with the addition of Encounter Africa. Like all meerkats, our current mob is very active and can usually be seen sunning themselves or digging in their tunnels. One of our mob's favorite items to eat is live bugs; they get crickets or mealworms daily. They also eat meat, hardboiled eggs, apples, yams, bananas, and grapes, as well as a treat of bones once per week. Like many of our animals, our keepers work with our meerkats on training and provide multiple enrichment opportunities.  

Contact Us

To learn more about helping to make Encounter Africa a reality, please contact Kelley Parker, Major Gifts and Planned Giving Manager at (719) 633-9924 ext. 164.