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WEEK OF AUGUST 22, 2024
VOLUME 97 | ISSUE 38
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Music, magic, movement: Zoo programs Wild cats on keep animals happy and engaged the November ballot Ballot measure seeks to protect big cats from hunting, trapping BY MONTE WHALEY MWHALEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Activities set out to trigger behaviors seen in animals’ natural environments, said Animal Care Specialist Christa Klein. If an animal typically has to hunt for their food, the enrichment program focuses on motivating them to use critical thinking, strength or dexterity to get to a snack. “It’s very valuable for them to spend that time, we want to try to have them mimic what they would do in their natural habitats, so if they’re going to spend a lot of time finding food, it’s important for us to feed them doing the same thing here, so that their brain is constantly thinking about new things and we’re presenting them with new challenges,” Klein said.
Buddy the mountain lion peers from behind a grassy knoll at the visitors looking at him through a fence at a windy corner of the 33,000-acre Wildlife Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg this week. The facility is home to over 950 animals that have been abused and locked up in basements and cages and then displayed by callous owners looking to squeeze a profit from the animal’s captivity. Buddy was part of a caged exhibit in a Des Moines, Iowa shopping mall for several years until he was rescued and taken to the Sanctuary to live out his life in peace, said founder Pat Craig. While in the mall, Buddy’s enclosure was among others that housed big cats as well as bears and more wildlife, Craig said. “It was awful, an absolute mess,” he said. “It was not a place for a wild animal like Buddy.”’ Buddy seems to appreciate his new home in the wide expanse of the sanctuary, about 25 miles east of Denver. “He can stay just around his den and enjoy the fresh air and natural environment,” Craig said. “I think he’s found his forever home here.” Activists used the backdrop of the Wildlife Sanctuary to celebrate the placement of Ballot Issue 91 on the November ballot. The wild cats at the Sanctuary – wildcats, cougars, tigers and lions – also illustrated the need for a law to protect wild felines from trophy hunters, activists said.
SEE ZOO, P4
SEE BALLOT, P5
Observant orangutans watch for the magician’s next sleight of hand maneuver.
Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance takes unique approach to enrichment BY NATALIE KERR SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
The commonalities between humans and other primates are extensive: Biology, opposable thumbs, lifespan — and a fascination with magic. At least gorillas and orangutans at Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance took a strong interest in magic tricks, when performed by local Denver magician Gerald Robinson. It was new for him too, performing without
card tricks or using dialogue to add intrigue to the magic show, the magician said. “I totally did prepare for this in a really weird way, because I’m like, what are apes going to understand? I can’t have them pick a card,” Robinson said. “I thought a lot of stuff had to be very visual, and very much grounded in the sense of reality and our sights, smells, hearing.” Experiences like this are part of DZCA’s behavioral husbandry program, which focuses on animal training and enrichment. Zoo staff employ stimuli, like toys, perfumes and spices, food, climbing apparati and more to keep the animals mentally and physically active, said Heather Genter, behavioral husbandry manager.
VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12 | CALENDAR: 14
PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFF STONIC
More than a game
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Colorado AMP aims to bring student musicians together P12