Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Feeding the Giraffes!

The giraffe exhibit at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is a must-see if you’re ever visiting Colorado Springs.

Located right inside the zoo's gates are several life-size artificial giraffes which give you a quick taste of what is coming. These guys are huge!

They are easily fourteen feet high, and when my four-year-old niece stood next to them, she barely made it up to their knees.

Just ahead is the real thing, though. Just follow the elevated wood-plank walkway into the African Rift Valley, and you’ll quickly see an entire herd of reticulated giraffes. Next stop: cracker station.

For $1 you get 3 “giraffe crackers” (which you can break in half for more mileage). And next to the cracker station is a display of all the giraffes in the herd.

You can press a button to see how many crackers they’ve eaten for the day. Usually, it's a lot!

***INSIDER TIP: We suggest getting about $3 worth of crackers right away, because as soon as you’re done with the first batch, you’re definitely going to want to get more. ***

Feeding the giraffes is easy. Just walk up to the fence and hold out a cracker, and these gentle beasts will glide towards you (if they’re not already waiting for you) and gingerly extend their massive blue tongues to fetch your treat.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Giraffes LOVE Crackers!

Some of the giraffes are more intent on cracker-fetching than others, and you might get fast-and-sloppy blue tongue drooling on you, but they are really very gentle, and no danger even to small children. We saw several toddlers sharing their crackers, and they had a blast.

Often the giraffes will clean their tongues on the fence posts, slurping and scraping away. So watch out! You might get wet. And occasionally two or more will want your cracker, so be ready for a little friendly competition.

You need to bend down a little to get to their level, but hey, they’re hungry too.

You can visit their indoor lodging right around the corner, but be warned, it’s pretty stinky. They’re more fun to watch outside.

Make sure you see them early though, because at 4pm, the zoo keepers herd them all back inside at once, also known as “the giraffe stampede.”

Have fun feeding the giraffes! And don’t forget to check out the new Rocky Mountain Wild exhibit while you're there.