Born Free USA Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Investigation:

In July 2025, the Born Free USA team completed another undercover zoo investigation for one of the top zoos in the United States: the AZA accredited Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

During our visit, we assessed the accuracy and efficacy of each major aim stated by the zoo industry, including educating visitors about the animals, providing optimal animal welfare with appropriate physical and mental stimulation, and participating in, or leading, meaningful conservation efforts. It is our intention that by providing data from the top zoos in the U.S., we illustrate a more accurate picture of whether those aims are being achieved and scrutinize what these facilities offer the animal inhabitants and human visitors. 

We then argue whether zoos can justify their existence and continue to keep wild animals in captivity based on our findings. This research acts as an individual case study and adds to our overall assessment of the remaining zoos, which we will update in due course.

We hope that, with this series of investigations, we reveal that zoos do not significantly contribute to the very things they use to justify their existence to continue breeding and keeping wild animals in captivity in perpetuity: promoting visitor education, supporting animal conservation, and improving animal welfare. 

If our investigations have helped move your inner compass closer towards supporting only ethical, compassionate conservation that truly makes a difference for animals in the wild, we urge you to stop visiting zoos and aquariums to show the zoo industry that the public wants the funding and resources to go towards actually saving animals in the wild; not perpetuating a harmful cycle just to line their pockets.

Complete Investigative Report:

https://www.bornfreeusa.org/campaigns/animals-in-captivity/cheyenne-mountain-investigation/