Zoos and Aquariums

Denver Zoo welcomes an effing adorable red panda named Chewbacca, ready for love

A red panda named Chewbacca has come to live at the Denver Zoo. His purpose? To mate with the zoo's female red panda, Daisy. His other, more important purpose? To be effing adorable. Continue reading for more facts and photos of the six-year-old Chewbacca -- who came to Denver from the Detroit Zo ... More >>

Denver Zoo: Mimi the 53-year-old elephant dies after "natural decline in health"

Mimi the Denver Zoo elephant is now eating bagels in heaven. Mimi was euthanized Tuesday after what the zoo describes as "a natural decline in health." At 53, she was the oldest elephant at the Denver Zoo and the seventh oldest zoo elephant in the entire country. Mimi had been in hospice care for a ... More >>

Denver Zoo: Mimi the elephant, her health failing, enters hospice care

Mimi the elephant is in the twilight of her elephant life. Zookeepers' best guess is that she's 53 years old, which easily makes her the oldest Asian elephant at the Denver Zoo and means she's surpassed the average elephant life span of about 44 years old. As such, Mimi has normal old-elephant probl ... More >>

Tapir escaper at the Denver Zoo! Keepers return animal within minutes

Ten acres of habitat just wasn't enough for Rinny the tapir. This morning, the 800-pound black-and-white mammal briefly escaped from her new home at the Denver Zoo's brand new exhibit, Toyota Elephant Passage, and went on an adventure to a fenced-in landscape area. Rinny's entire excursion lasted ... More >>

Beau Green, exec chef of the Denver Zoo, on his new all-Colorado food cart

Beau Green Denver Zoo 2300 Steele Street www.denverzoo.org This is part one of my interview with Beau Green, exec chef of the Denver Zoo. You can read part of our interview in this space tomorrow. It was a juvenile-court judge who forced Beau Green into a kitchen. The 37-year-old chef of the Denve ... More >>

Denver Zoo's poop-and-trash-powered rickshaw on display at 1700 Broadway

We first told you about the Denver Zoo's plan to turn a shitload of shit into electricity and heat back in 2009. The key is a scientific process called gasification. Basically, it works like this: Poop and trash and other waste goes in, science happens, and then voila! The end product is a useful c ... More >>

Should Denver Zoo elephants be renamed after Toyota vehicles in light of $5.4 mil donation?

​The Denver Zoo's two lady elephants, Mimi and Dolly, moved yesterday to their new home: the recently rechristened Toyota Elephant Passage exhibit. Formerly called Asian Tropics, the ten-acre, $50 million elephant exhibit was renamed thanks to a $5.4 million donation from the Denver Toyota Dea ... More >>

Denver Zoo's new elephant exhibit renamed Toyota Elephant Passage after $5.4 mil donation

​ Update, 4:15 p.m.: The zoo has announced how much money the seven local Toyota dealerships donated to the newly christened Toyota Elephant Passage exhibit, slated to open in June 2012. The figure? $5.4 million, the zoo's second-largest donation ever. Read on for more details.

George the rare black rhino, R.I.P.: Denver Zoo euthanizes 28-year-old endangered animal

George the black rhino, who lived at the Denver Zoo since he was a baby, was euthanized last week. At 28, he was the ninth-oldest zoo rhino in the world. Given that, he suffered from a list of icky ailments, including diverticulitis, continued weight loss and... wait for it... chronic diarrhea. "P ... More >>

Denver Zoo named greenest zoo in the country (plus pictures of effing adorable baby animals)

"I love to poop."​ The Denver Zoo is the greenest zoo in the country, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which awarded the zoo its first-ever (and aptly titled) Green Award. So what makes the Denver Zoo so environmentally friendly? One of the reasons has to do with elephant po ... More >>

Denver Zoo staff to travel to Vietnam to help Asian elephants, Michael Jackson monkeys

MJ? Is that you?​ This month, four Denver Zoo staff members will travel to Vietnam to help two endangered species: Asian elephants -- up to twelve of which will one day live in the zoo's new Asian Tropics exhibit -- and Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys, an extraordinarily endangered species of monkey ... More >>

It's a Zoo in Here!

Denver Zoo welcomes four red ruffed (and endangered) (and effing cute!) lemurs

"We loves being born!"​ We here at Effing Adorable Animal Baby Headquarters just got a super-important dispatch from the Denver Zoo: four new red ruffed lemur babies! Though not as effing adorable as the zoo's four Amur tiger cubs -- who won the prestigious Best Denver Zoo Animal Babies award ... More >>

Denver Zoo's new elephant exhibit, Asian Tropics, is halfway finished (PHOTOS)

​Asian Tropics, the Denver Zoo's biggest-ever project, is halfway finished. When it's fully completed in the spring of 2012, it will be home to several species, including up to eight male Asian elephants -- a necessity for captive breeding, but an intimidating feat that brings certain challeng ... More >>

Denver Zoo's Zoo Lights is one of the best holiday lights displays in the world, says Bing

Dave Parsons/Denver ZooThis dragon is en fuego.​ What does the Denver Zoo have in common with Jerusalem? How about with a thirty-foot tree made entirely of Legos? Or a bridge in Branson, Missouri, a city best described as Las Vegas for Christians? Stumped? We'll tell you. Bing (if you don't kn ... More >>

Denver Zoo: Help its elephant poop dreams come true by voting in the Pepsi Refresh Project

Elephants poop a lot.​ Everybody poops, including elephants -- who produce 200 pounds of the stuff every day. That's the weight of a man. Hear that, kids? An elephant poops out a man every single day. And the Denver Zoo has a plan to turn all that poop into electricity to power its new Asian ... More >>

Denver Zoo's baby orangutan wants to meet you!

Dave Parsons/Denver Zoo​ Hesty, the Denver Zoo's new effing adorable baby Sumatran orangutan, is ready to see and be seen. Born on June 19 to mother Nias and father Mias, she made her public debut on exhibit this past Saturday. (No word on whether the zoo's other baby animals were insanely jea ... More >>

Bear sex? Horny elephants? Inside Denver Zoo's Singles Safari

Dave Parsons/Denver Zoo​On the agenda for the Denver Zoo's second-ever Singles Safari event this Friday night: horny elephants, polar bear sex, and why big cats like Calvin Klein's Obsession so much. "We wanted to give a different way to interpret animals and talk about animals to this crowd ... More >>

Denver Zoo's new general curator, Brian Aucone, returns home

Brian Aucone.​Fourteen years ago, Brian Aucone was a lowly Denver Zoo intern, cleaning up animal poo and setting up exhibits. A biology student at the University of Northern Colorado, Aucone would drive to Denver from Greeley every Saturday to work at the zoo for free (and class credit). Now, ... More >>

Cranbeary, the Denver Zoo's returning lady polar bear, is looking for love(making)

Dave Parsons/Denver ZooCranbeary is smiling. Maybe because she just did it.​ It's Adorable Animal Friday! (See previous installments here: baby giraffe is born; baby monkey is effing cute; naked mole rats are effing hideous.) Today, we bring you Cranbeary, an eight-year-old polar bear who has ... More >>

Naked mole rats: these ugly (but endearing!) critters are back by popular demand at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Cheyenne Mountain ZooI'm back, b*#%^$s! ​How's this for a ringing endorsement? "They're not pretty, but they're pretty fun!" And that's from a guy whose job it is to promote the animals at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs -- which will welcome back a pack (gaggle? family? nest? ... More >>

Otter still not popped: Kitchi remains on the loose more than a week after busting out of zoo

Photo courtesy Cheyenne Mountain Zoo"Made you look."​Earlier this week, we told you about Kitchi the otter, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo escapee, who managed to evade recapture even after being trapped in a culvert with a robotic camera vehicle at one end and a safe trap on the other. By now, Kitchi ... More >>

Traveling trunk: Big wooden elephant arrives at Denver Zoo

Courtesy of Dave Parsons/Denver ZooDa elephant statue. Word.​ What's six feet tall, made of wood and never forgets? Why, the Denver Zoo's new elephant statute, of course! Forgive our bad joke. It's Friday afternoon and our brains are mushy. It's true, however, that the zoo has a new wooden e ... More >>

Do the Denver Zoo's elephants need giant Snuggies now that Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter?

"I'll keep you warm, baby..."​Are the elephants at the Denver Zoo freezing their giant butts off? In Defense of Animals says they are. The zoo says no way. According to a Groundhog Day-themed report issued today by the animal watchdog group, the Denver Zoo is among the thirty-one U.S. zoos ho ... More >>

Wild Kingdom

Denver Zoo gets ready for "green weenies" by breaking ground on an exhibit of elephantine proportions

Will Ranchipur, a 43-year-old bull currently living at the San Diego Zoo, one day call Denver home? I know a few lady elephants who sure hope so.​The elephants are coming! The big, giant, hulking male elephants are coming. To Denver, that is. The Denver Zoo broke ground today on Asian Tropics ... More >>

Denver Arts Week: Day Two

​Dr. Doolittle talked with the animals. He also walked with the animals. But leave it to the Denver Zoo to paint with the animals. As part of Denver Arts Week, November 6 through 14, visitors can watch the zoo's two elephants, Mimi and Dolly, paint with their trunks every day at 11:30 a.m. Bo ... More >>

Caution: A herd of bull elephants is coming to the Denver Zoo

Poo Power at the Denver Zoo

Big feet, big trunks: Ten of the country's most eligible elephant bachelors

Ken Bohn, San Diego ZooRanchipur, a 43-year-old bull at the San Diego Zoo, tries to pick up 42-year-old Cha Cha. "Hey baby. Are you wearing space pants? Because your ass is out of this world!" "Oh, like I haven't heard that one before. Dick." "Caution: A Herd of Bull Elephants is Coming to the Denv ... More >>

Inside one of the nation's top carnivore sanctuaries

A Wild Time at Thursday's Do At The Zoo

Tonight: Do At The Zoo

Mile High Music and Arts Festival Update

Child's Play

KwanZoo

Pick your favorite Kwanzaa celebration and run with it.

Party Animals

The Denver Zoo encourages imbibing for Brew at the Zoo.

Rabbit Run

When did jogging get so dangerous?

Pharaoh Weather

Travel through time with Treasures of Ancient Egypt

Grrrrrrrr!

Jungle Lovin' gives humans a peek at animal amour

A Dog's Life

Bodie was a stray; now he's a star. But how stellar are his accommodations?

Book, Chapter and Verse

B.C. Tours offers a politically incorrect view of Denver. From the beginning.

Off Limits

Sour fruit

Off Limits

A revolutionary idea

Best Animal-Attraction Encounters

An Adult Wild Night
The Denver Zoo

Off Limits

Off the Deep End

Colorado's Ocean Journey is banking on expensive special effects to drive home its conservationist message.

LETTERS

LETTERS

WE'RE LOADED FOR BEARKLONDIKE & SNOW MUST GO ENOUGH OF THIS POLAR ICE CRAP.