News & Events

Cast Your Vote for Pancakes!

Who doesn’t love pancakes? We all do, but, we LOVE Pancake Tortoises! These cute, flat, little rock crevice dwelling flapjacks need your help! Cheyenne Mountain Zoo members can vote to secure funds to help us conduct community awareness training and research to protect Critically Endangered Pancake Tortoises and their habitat in Kenya. Wild turtle species are in the midst of a worldwide extinction crisis! The African Pancake Tortoise faces severe threats not only from grassland habitat destruction used for farming, but also an additional threat of poaching for the pet trade. With a partnership with Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, we will use this project to raise awareness in the local communities for newly found Pancake Tortoise populations, aiming to secure stable populations and the tortoise’s landscape.

The top three projects in Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s competition will be FULLY funded! Voting ends April 2nd, so cast your vote today! (Cheyenne Mountain Zoo members, check your email for the voting link!)

An adult Pancake Tortoise in the hand of a researcher with the search for more continuing in the background, Photo: Lewa Research Department