News and Stories

See Our Animal Olympians July 27 – August 12

Cheetah sprints, tortoise and chicken races, pig mini hurdles, lemur gymnastics, serval high jump, sea lion volleyball and elephant weightlifting will become featured attractions over the next 16 days at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden to celebrate the 2012 Summer Games in London.  The event officially named, ZOOlympics, will highlight a variety of the Zoo’s animal Olympians in a number of “Olympic-Style” animal encounters July 27 through August 12.

Daily, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Zoo visitors can find animal encounters throughout the park themed to Olympic events that highlight the animals’ natural abilities:          

Schedule of Event: (* – Not available every day – check schedule here)

            10:15 a.m.                   Tortoise Race – Galapagos Tortoise Exhibit

            10:30 a.m.                   Elephant Weight Lifting – Elephant Reserve

            10:45 a.m.                   *Lemur Gymnastics – Lemur Lookout

            11 a.m.                        *Cougar Long Jump – Cat Canyon

            11 a.m. & 2 p.m.         *Chicken Race – Children’s Zoo

            11 a.m. & Noon          *Cheetah 100 Meter Dash – Cheetah Encounter Yard, Serval High Jump – Cheetah Encounter Yard, Fishing Cat Dive – Cheetah Encounter Yard

            11:45 a.m.                   Mini Pig Hurdles – Vine Street Village path to Go Green Garden

            2 p.m.                          Sea Lion Volleyball – Sea Lions Exhibit

            2:15 p.m.                     *Red Panda Long Jump – Red Panda Exhibit

“With the whole world focused on the London Summer Olympics, and the amazing ability of the athletes that are competing, we thought this would be an ideal time to showcase the natural (and amazing) athletic ability of the animals, too,” said Thane Maynard, Executive Director of the Cincinnati Zoo. “While no human can compete with a sprinting cheetah or a gymnast lemur, the idea is the same – we want to highlight the best of these animals and show the world just how similar they are to human competitors.”