If you won't eat it, we won't feed it!

Name: Jamie Breitigan

Hometown: Anaheim, CA – This is where I spent most of my childhood and young adulthood.

Favorite Zoo Animal: I’m in awe of all the animals here at the zoo. The ones who make me laugh the most though are the grizzlies.

Worked at CMZ since: July, 2006

Job Description: Commissary Manager – I take care of ordering, preparing, delivering, and rotating all animal food and fulfilling all animal department supply orders here at the zoo. Plus all other duties as assigned.

What’s your favorite part of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (CMZ)? I like the family feeling of the zoo and knowing we are a part of something bigger than us.

Why is your job important? I believe all of the jobs here are equally important. Mine is just one piece of the puzzle.  Of course I never want to run of food or they may decide to feed me to the animals.

Do you have any advice for people who are visiting the CMZ for the first time? Try to explore all parts of the zoo: the animals, the landscaping, the view, and all of the shows.

Do you have any Funny/Good Stories? I get here pretty early (5:30am) in the morning and sometimes it’s very dark, especially outside of the Commissary. One morning as I was getting out of the Commissary truck, I saw a wild mountain lion run in front of the truck’s headlights. I jumped right back in the truck and waited until she/he was gone and went on with my work. Very cool, right? Well, fast forward a year or so. Before I walk out of the Commissary to get to the truck I pull out my flashlight so I can see if there’s anything like a mountain lion outside of the building. I turned the corner and flashed up by the truck and all of a sudden I saw two shiny eyes looking back at me. I won’t tell you what I actually said… But you can bet I was high tailing it back inside. Well, I don’t like to be behind in my work schedule so I decided “I’m going to scare whatever this is away!” I went and cautiously flashed my lights up at it again ready to go blow for blow with whatever animal it was and low and behold it was a very innocent deer. Are you serious, a deer? Well I felt pretty foolish, but still alive and on time. 

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