Animals at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo miss seeing guests at the park, according to zoo officials

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- If you've been missing your visits with the animals at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, it turns out, the feeling is mutual.

The statewide stay-at-home order has forced the zoo to temporarily shut its doors.

Zoo officials say the majority of animals have missed seeing guests at the park, especially great apes, who are used to interacting with guests through glass walls on a daily basis.

The zoo’s giraffe herd of 16 also really seem to miss seeing human faces at the park. 

Zoo officials say the giraffe exhibit puts guests face-to-face with them every day for a lettuce feeding, so the giraffes are used to interacting with thousands of people per day. 

Since the zoo closed, staff members from different departments have been taking time to visit the animals, and officials say the giraffes usually come right over to anyone who comes by. 

Kera, the zoo’s nearly 2-year-old Sumatran orangutan, who is curious about humans, has missed interacting with guests, as well.

To keep the animals’ spirits up, keepers have found creative ways to enrich the animals, like moving their kitchen prep tables out to the spaces where the great apes can watch them. 

They’ve also been inviting small animals like Waffles, the African cape porcupine, to walk the halls of Primate World.

Given the spread of COVID-19, the zoo has been taking extra sanitary precautions. 

In addition to social distancing from coworkers and disinfecting and handwashing protocols already in place, staff working with felines at the Zoo now wear masks during all interactions with the cats, while handling their food, enrichment items and when cleaning their living spaces. 

Animal care staff also wear protective gloves when handling the cats’ food. 

The zoo says staff will continue protected interactions with cats with as much distancing between the keeper and the animal as possible, for their protection.

As of right now, there is no date set in stone for the zoo’s re-opening, but you can still interact with the animals from the comfort of your home. 

Zoo officials say guests can now go online and book a custom animal video shoutout from their favorite animal, or interview an animal live through video conferencing.

If you’d like to send a friend a little video message from the Zoo or if you’ve ever wanted to FaceTime with one of our animals – now’s your chance! You can find out more at here. 

The zoo also has an “Abnormally Normal Video Series” featuring their animals on Facebook and Youtube - as well as a livestream of their giraffes.