A concession area and a new set of bathrooms are now under construction: Parisi kicks off new Vilas Zoo construction New restrooms, breastfeeding area coming to Vilas Zoo Henry Vilas Zoo kicks-off new construction project From the pictures, it looks like it will be next to the Children's Zoo.
According to their facebook page, one of the zoo's female polar bears, Suka, is leaving soon to another zoo on a breeding recommendation. Her new zoo hasn't been listed. For nonrelated males that could use a mate, only the Alaska Zoo could qualify, but the status mentioned it was an AZA accredited zoo and Alaska Zoo is not that. However, perhaps she is moving to a zoo that already had a breeding pair and she will be a secondary mate.
Is she related to Siku in Chicago? Considering he is young and his potential mate died recently, Lincoln Park would be my guess for her destination. Also makes sense logistically, since she is very close to him distance-wise.
Lincoln Park was my first thought when I saw this news. The US polar bear population is in questionable shape, and breeding really seems to have slowed to a crawl lately.
Siku is her older brother. She's unfortunately related to a lot of the younger male polar bears in US Zoos.
An article about Suka’s eventual departure: Vilas Zoo prepares to send polar bear Suka off to be paired with a mate It says the Zoo is hoping to get another polar bear by the end of the year. One of the Columbus youngsters perhaps?
I can’t think of any reproductively viable, unpaired males in AZA zoos besides Siku and Kali. It’s also possible that Suka is being swapped with a female that has not been reproducing, though; in which case, there are a number of zoos she could be heading for.
Alaska Zoo is a possibility since Ahpun, the female polar bear, died recently. I know it's non AZA, but it has participated in SSP. Kali may be an option as well if he's finally allowed to breed. If she's going to a zoo with a non successful breeding pair, she could be heading to San Diego, Denver, or Pittsburgh Zoo. Memphis, Buffalo, Toledo, Brookfield and North Carolina have male relatives of Suka. Since Little One and Anana have finally gotten along at the Cincinnati Zoo, I doubt Suka would go there. One last possibility would be Columbus Zoo to be paired in the future with Nuniq, but if there's rumors of another polar coming to the Henry Vilas in the future, Nuniq may go there.
Detroit Zoo is the destination. I thought there was a ban on carnivore breeding in Michigan. Are polar bears exempt?
Several updates from my visit today: The new NA Porcupine exhibit is huge! The terrarium in the Discovery Center that used to have toy Cotton-Top Tamarins now has real Domestic Ferrets. A lot of the enclosures in The Rainforest were empty. Both the Painted Buttonquail and Timber Rattlesnake exhibits had sighs that said "Exhibit Closed". So did the two large corner terrariums in the Herpitarium. Saw the motmot and the barbet for the first time. With the Tiger gone, this yard is now a temporary expansion to the Lion exhibit. Several exhibits has "Pardon or dust: new exhibit coming soon" signs on them. These would be the former exhibits for Malayan Tapir, Common Ostrich, Indian Peafowl, Barbados Sheep, and Guppy. Anyone know what's coming? The new bathrooms should be finished in May.
Also, doe anyone know if the old badger exhibit is being used? When I went yesterday, there was an open pet carrier in it.
Henry Vilas Zoo just announced today that there was a birth of five Black-and-White Ruffed Lemurs. (HVZ is my local zoo, so I will be posting on here often.) Henry Vilas Zoo
The lemurs are on exhibit, I assume Yuri is as well? I am not sure. I have had not seen Callie when I was there last, but it is said that they will be alternating on exhibit.
Some updates on visit from yesterday: The baby lemurs are very active and popular with the visitors. Yuri is indeed on exhibit, but being very shy. The cat exhibits aren't rotating, but they flip-flopped exhibits (the old Tiger exhibit now houses the Lions and vice-versa). The Indian Peafowl are back on exhibit. The Black Swan was not on exhibit. Not sure why. The new bathrooms are almost done. Both Common Leopard Geckos have been moved to the same exhibit. The African Giant Millipedes now inhabit the unused Common Leopard Gecko exhibit. The Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches now inhabit the old Button Quail exhibit. The lighting the Discovery Center now has a slightly red tint. This allows the Seba's Short-Tailed Bats and Sugar Gliders to be photographed more easily. I can confirm that the old badger exhibit is still being used. One of the badgers, named Bucky, does not get along with the others. Because of this, while the other badgers use the main outdoor exhibit, Bucky rotates between the indoor exhibit and the old badger exhibit.
