Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Colorado Springs, CO – Padenpor DLX Zoo Flooring
Overview
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (CMZ) in Colorado Springs, CO was established in 1926. The Zoo is home to more than 950 animals and approximately 180 species. Situated nearly 6,800ft above sea level and nestled into Cheyenne Mountain, this Zoo offers a unique experience for guests fortunate enough to visit it. One of the biggest and well known attractions at CMZ is the African Rift Valley exhibit, and its 17 reticulated giraffe residents that make up their herd. Giraffe flooring.
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is known world-wide for their amazing giraffe herd and the up-close encounters guests have with the giraffe. The Zoo’s herd is one of the largest in North America and the most prolific in the country. The Zoo has celebrated 198 births since 1954. Within the zoo industry, CMZ is also known for being at the forefront of veterinary care for these animals. Recently they replaced the giraffe flooring in all of the indoor giraffe enclosures with Abacus. The new floors will vastly improve the long-term health of their giraffes’ feet and joints.
Installation
Abacus is the leader in zoo flooring, because our product is tough, resilient and slip resistant, it is perfect for large hooved animals. CMZ contacted us to install their new giraffe floor after they heard one of their fellow accredited zoos was highly satisfied with our product. Previously, we installed our “zoo flooring” at the San Diego Zoo’s medical center with great success. The product has held up well and is a great flooring surface for the animals. As a result, CMZ reached out to us to install the giraffe barn flooring for their world-renowned giraffe herd’s exhibit.
When we first assessed CMZ’s indoor giraffe building, there was still some demolition work that needed to be done to the original epoxy flooring. Some grading and leveling was required to help slope the floor down towards the drains to keep water from pooling and puddling. After we ground away the original flooring, we began applying our patented zoo flooring. Due to the size and weight of the animals using this floor, we used 10mm of rubber for the base mat and 4mm of polyurethane top coats. This extra padding helps relieve pressure on the animal’s joints and bones when walking around on our surface. This installation also included a 6” cove base, which extends the polyurethane from the floor 6 inches up the wall, making cleaning much safer and easier. Our seamless PADENPOR DLX zoo floor is also textured with grit to make the floor non-slip, even when wet!