It wouldn’t be a visit to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo without the purple tongue of a giraffe unrolling in your face, collecting your proffered leaves of lettuce.

The long-necked beauties are among the hundreds of animals you can see while at the zoo, which is marking its 100th anniversary this year.

The zoo, which encompasses almost 150 acres at an elevation above 6,500 feet, was ranked No. 2 in the nation in USA Today’s 2026 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards. Its Rocky Mountain Wild was named second-best exhibit.

As you plan your next trip to the zoo, be sure to experience these 10 things:

Grizzly bear demonstration in Rocky Mountain Wild

Digger and Emmett, the pair of beloved 750-pound roommates, put on quite a show every Saturday and Sunday at 2:45 p.m. The unrelated males hail from Montana, where they were labeled nuisances in the wild and brought to the zoo instead of being euthanized. Visitors can watch while keepers ask them to perform cooperative behaviors — actions that benefit the bears’ care. They are trained to open their mouths so that keepers can brush their teeth, and also to hold up their paws so keepers can trim their nails and examine the pads on their feet. Emmett, who is recovering from cancer in his tail, will also present his hind end to keepers, who can check and clean the surgical site.

Sully, the Western lowland gorilla, in Primate World

The adorable tyke was born in July of 2025 to 32-year-old Asha, marking the first time in 13 years that a gorilla has been born at the zoo.

“He’s still mostly hanging onto his mom, but he’s getting to the age where he’s curious about the world,” said Rachel Wright, communications and marketing director. “He’s starting to swing on the fire hose vines and reaching out to his dad, Goma. … Mom’s comfortable with it.”

Nile hippopotamus exhibit in Water’s Edge: Africa

Four hippos, three of which are related, live in the humid environment where you can watch them above ground or in the water. Omo is the newest, born in 2021 to Zambezi, a 28-year-old, 3,000-pound first-time mama. Omo’s father is Biko, who arrived in 2020 as a breeding recommendation for Zambezi and her younger sister, 22-year-old, 3,700-pound Kasai. If you’re in the building at the right time, you can hear them communicate, which sounds a lot like an old-time car horn, Wright says. Their keepers give a daily talk at 4:15 p.m.

Mochi, the mountain tapir, in Mountain Tapir & Okapi

If a bear mated with an anteater, you’d have a tapir. Mochi, with his prehensile snout, is one of three mountain tapirs in the U.S. The other two reside at Los Angeles Zoo, where Mochi lived before relocating in 2023. Raised with human care, the mild-mannered animal is an extrovert and one of the few animals at the zoo that are safe to share space with. The 370-pounder loves a scratch and will often flop on his side for a belly rub.

Australia Walkabout

Inside Budgie Buddies Aviary, guests can buy a seed-covered stick for $1 and feed more than 100 free-flight Australian birds, including budgies, cockatiels and princess parrots. Or get to the zoo as the gates open at 9 a.m. for the red-necked wallaby parade, when the mob comes bouncing out, eager to greet the day. They hop along the walkway to their grassy yard area, where they graze, do zoomies and nap. Visitors must stay on the walkway and off the grass, but the social wallabies love to meet new people, and if they’re within reach and willing, you can say hello and stroke their backs.

Mountaineer Sky Ride

The views from this chairlift-style ride will feed you for days. Enjoy a different perspective on the zoo, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs and the plains beyond. The ride takes visitors to Mountaineer Summit, where they can eat a picnic lunch or check out a yurt and playground before riding back down.

Northern Abyssinian ground hornbills in Encounter Africa

You cannot avoid falling in love with Petrie and Layla, the charismatic African birds that make up one of the zoo’s most interesting exhibits, modeled after a real-life shop in Kenya. The curious birds, with their extra-large beaks topped by a bony prominence called a casque, love to roam their shop, knocking stuff on the floor and opening drawers.

African penguins in Water’s Edge: Africa

The little waddlers have the most diverse habitat at the zoo, with nesting rocks inside their building, indoor and outdoor pools, and a beach. On warm days, visitors might be treated to a penguin walkabout, as keepers let them perform a sidewalk shuffle and mingle with guests. Keepers give a daily talk at 9:30 a.m.

Feeding the giraffes in African Rift Valley

This summer, the zoo will open the International Center for the Care and Conservation of Giraffe, which will offer 11 feeding areas and brand-new perspectives of the animals, from foot to eye level. The new center will expand the animals’ space by 25%.

Mexican wolves in Rocky Mountain Wild

At the zoo’s wildest habitat — a large portion of the natural forest at the top of the property — you can see the wolves, but the wolves can’t see you. The one-way glass in the viewing area is designed to keep the wolves as wild as possible because they and their offspring could potentially leave the zoo at some point to enter the wild, as has happened with other wolves around the country. Watch keepers feed them at 11 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.