A moment away at 2026 Zoofari

Will squeeze through rails for crunchy produce

I had no idea what would unfold at the Pueblo Zoo on the summer solstice. I only know it fell on Pueblo’s hottest day yet in 2026. The 100-degree afternoon left me wondering if an outdoor event was a big mistake. 

I grabbed a hotel in Pueblo West, so I did not have to trek home that night. Before I got into some business casual clothes, I took the coldest shower I could stand. 

Quinn is being watched. 

Zoofari is a more upscale event than most the zoo offers - $150 a head, no one under 21. Before I bought the ticket, I did wonder if it were too upscale for me, having rarely worn slacks since the pandemic. For once the zoo had a dress code – no jeans or T-shirts. I showed up with a golf shirt and slacks, but nice shorts in the car. 

Upon seeing numerous men wearing shorts get in line, I returned to the car and went with the shorts. No one minded. This wasn’t Brew at the Zoo, and I appreciated that. But I also appreciated not having to swelter in those slacks. 

Before serving dinner, Zoofari hosts a series of animal close-ups. Being indoors made the penguin encounter an easy place to begin. The zoo has 10 penguins, including a chick hatched in early 2026. The keeper brought out Quinn. 

Before they could get the door closed behind Quinn, two other penguins, including Duckie, attempted to force their way through the door. It’s an exhibit full of quirky personalities. I was hoping for Duckie, since he became a celebrity when he made it deep into a national March Madness competition of zoo penguins, only losing to a young penguin chick from the Indianapolis Zoo (a market 15 times the size of Pueblo). 

Quinn surveying the room. 

But Quinn was quite the personable fellow as well. The zookeeper brought Quinn into a penned observation area, where he explored his space and acquiesced to gentle pets from onlookers. His exhibit-mates took to the water and for a while he watched them. The feathers were far softer than I expected, and not rubbery at all for a seafaring creature. Quinn is nine, old for an African penguin in the wild due to predation, but he lives in a habitat with a 30-year-old African penguin, so age is just a number. 

Some teen volunteers showed off other animals in the EcoCenter. A pair of domesticated ferrets roamed a pen, eager to check out some tunnels in the enclosure. Then I need to feel the shell of the turtle exploring another pen. 

The sun dropped enough that the outside animal encounter was bearable. Two exotic cattle came out for crunchy snacks. One cattle, a shaggy Highlands breed, preferred carrots, the other was particular to apples. They could squeeze their heads through the fence up to their horns and went as far as they could after they finished each round. 

The third encounter was at the zoo's veterinary center, which is not normally open to the public. Those areas include the hay barn, the oldest structure at the zoo, another of the august stone structures that rose under the Works Progress Administration. The area supervisor and the zoo veterinarian took us through the pristine facility. 

Pueblo Zoo does not have any megafauna – giraffes, elephants, rhinos – so most animals can be examined in their facility. The bison get exams in their yard because it’s too hard to move them if sedated (bulls run 3,000 pounds). They had one small animal in an incubator – she had been rejected by her mother, but the zoo staff were letting her age here so she could eventually rejoin the enclosure after an introduction. Out of respect for the zoo, I won’t say who was in the incubator, as they also asked me to keep photos off social media (and this blog would count). 

Instead of a buffet, they had food from three food trucks, plus an open bar. I drank water and mocktails whenever the chance presented. On a full stomach, sangria seemed too fitting on this triple-digit night. For entertainment, the night included acrobats twisting through metal rings attached to the roof of the pavilion, and an Americana band. 

I have always been partial to seeing places outside of typical hours. As the live auction rattled by, I excused myself for a last pass through the zoo on the longest day of the year. The pelicans bedded down on the shores of the moat that surrounds the lemur’s outdoor island. The goats, cattle, and sheep kept grazing, unfazed by fading daylight. Inside the EcoCenter, the penguins congregated toward their nesting nooks.  

Drowsy pelicans.

Penguins winding down. 

Everyone around African Adventure had called it a day. The lions had left their yard for the off-exhibit area. Most animals with indoor spaces had adjourned for the night. I did not blame them. Even with the sun nearly set, the heat did not really relent. We were still in the low nineties as twilight approached. I hoped the late hour might be ripe for an appearance by one creature I have never seen at the Pueblo Zoo, their ringtail. A Southwest raccoon relative, they are highly nocturnal, and twilight still proved too early to catch any glimpse of him. I will keep hoping to spot him. 

At that point I needed a break from auction watching. The night ended with a live auction full of items far out of my price range, but I had designs on a few silent auction items. 

The animal print paintings made by actual animals fit a theme in my living room. Years ago in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, I purchased a painting of grizzly paw prints painted by the Riverside Discovery Center’s resident bear, Smokey. 

The Zoofari silent auctions included a handful of paintings from resident animals – one from Ducky the African penguin, one with prints from each member of a new penguin family, and a nose print from their bull bison C.J. I watch them religiously all night but fell behind as both penguin paintings soared above my maximum. The bison nose print bidding slow and I pounced and $105 proved the high bid. 

My major prize. 

As the night wound up, I walked out with my new bison art plus an appreciation for how Pueblo could come out for one of its venerable institutions. While waiting for my item, I had a good conversation with a board member about the ups and downs of the Pueblo Zoo, about how its staff carves out out a community place on a shoestring budget. In a night where almost every conversation was with a stranger, it felt right to have one more before I hit the road. 

The zoo holds its own, caring for two hundred species that liven up its corner of City Park. Plus, its bull bison painted a pretty nice nose print.