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Milwaukee County Zoo Milwaukee County Zoo news 2007-2012

Discussion in 'United States' started by Jaguar, 29 Aug 2007.

  1. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    After paying a visit, here's some more updates on my home zoo:

    *The lion cubs, males Hubert and Kiume, and female Njeri, are growing up fast! After successful introductions, the whole pride, the cubs, mother Sanura, and father Themba, now all share an exhibit, rotating between the indoor and outdoor exhibits with our male spotted hyena, Scruffy. Today, the pride was inside, and the hyena was outside.

    *Our jaguar pair, male "Pat the Cat," and female Stella, were being introduced today to possibly take a step towards breeding. I only saw about a minute or two of it, but they seemed to get along well.

    *Willy, the male polar bear from the North Carolina Zoo, has settled into Milwaukee nicely. At first, I first I thought he would be kept separate from our resident female, Snow Lilly, due to a polar bear's usual solitary life. But, to my surprise, both were sharing an exhibit on my visit. They were having a great time, splashing and playing in the pool. Too bad Willy is only going to be here for another year though:( - he really adds some life to the exhibit with his playfulness.

    *We have a few new babies in the Small Mammals Building. Twin cotton top tamarins were born sometime in February, and two fennec foxes were born at the end of January. Sadly, the pups were rejected by the mother. All were very cute, and contributed to a fun visit. Also, as reported on here, there was also a potto born too. To my disappointment, I didn't see it.

    *Back in November, two young bongos have joined our current female. Due to the cold (It was in the upper 40's on my visit), I didn't see them.

    HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Today I saw probably the most active animals I have ever seen at the Milwaukee County Zoo! The polar bears were splashing up a storm, the cotton top tamarins were constantly bouncing around, baby orangutan star Mahal swung all around his exhibit, and our tayra was full of energy, bounding all over the place. The animal that really stood out of the crowd today, though, was Scruffy the spotted hyena. He was always walking, sprinting, and never stopped moving the entire time I was by his exhibit.
     
  2. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  3. team tapir

    team tapir Well-Known Member

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    Is finishing the long rumored hippo exhibit part of the elephant expansion.

    Team Tapir
     
  4. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I'm sure the new hippo exhibit is in the plan somewhere. Perhaps this master plan is what the hold-up was...the plan originally was to build the hippo complex in 2 phases (in the current location I think). The 1st was an expanded indoor facility (very poor in my opinion), and phase 2 was supposed to include a new outdoor exhibit with underwater viewing. Maybe the zoo has changed plans and may build a large African area with new pachyderm habitats and other animals (maybe some of the current hoofstock, move cheetahs to a larger exhibit, move meerkats and dwarf mongooses from Small Mammals, etc.). We'll wait and see.
     
  5. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Updates from my June 23rd visit:

    *Two rheas are now living in the South American exhibit. I haven't seen the Baird's tapirs for quite a while now, so now I'm wondering if they were replaced by the rheas.

    *A female Bactrian camel was born on May 4th. She is quite cute!

    *"Pat the Cat" and Stella the jaguars were on exhibit together again. They seem to be getting along well. Sure hope some cubs come soon! :D

    *Though I didn't make it to Apes of Africa, the new female gorilla, Naku, is now on exhibit with silverback Cassius and old female Femelle. Another female from Toronto will be either arriving very soon or already has arrived as well.

    *HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: I managed to see the Zoo's summer exhibit - Adventure Dinosaur! Of all the times that dinos have come to Milwaukee, this year was probably the best. Located behind the Small Mammals Building, visitors encounter old favorites such as Tyrannosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Brachiosaurus. Some new additions include Chasmosaurus (related to Triceratops), Carnotaurus (the "meat-eating bull"), and Coelophysis (a small and speedy carnivore), along with a few others. The best part, though, is an area where visitors can use levers and buttons to control the dinosaur's movements! Overall, Adventure Dinosaur! was great, and is my favorite of the temporary exhibits to come to the Milwaukee County Zoo.
     
  6. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  7. Kifaru Bwana

    Kifaru Bwana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Excellent and major news item.

    Must be one of the few Matschie's births in US this year!
     
  8. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  9. BjoernN

    BjoernN Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Any news concerning the bonobo group?
     
  10. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Nothing that I know of.
     
  11. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    More details about the Zoo's master plan.

    Zoo issues RFP to create new master plan - Milwaukee - The Business Journal

    The article mentions the plan will also involve the Australian Building and Small Mammals Building. I'm very happy something will finally be done with the Small Mammal Building; however, the Australian Building surprises me. Other than no outdoor access for the tree kangaroos, I think it's pretty good.
     
  12. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  13. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Some updates from my visit today:

    *I saw the new entrance to the Family Farm. It now includes some old machines that were used in the old days of Wisconsin farming along with some neat information. I found it to be quite an interesting display.

    *I saw a herd of five greater kudu in the African Waterhole exhibit, which was a surprise to me. Reason I say this is because I haven't seen any kudu for a couple of years. But then, in spring, I saw a pair of them, and then none during the summer. Anyway, it was good to see them again - they're such a majestic antelope. :)

    *The Baird's tapirs are still living in the South American exhibit. I haven't seen them for about a year, and thought they were replaced when I saw the rheas in the exhibit last time (during the summer).

    *According to the zoo's map, the black bear exhibit will be renovated! The only details said were that it be more natural for the bears; no date of completion has been decided yet - hopefully by summer it will be done. I can't wait to see the finished product!

    *A lot was going on in the Small Mammals Building. A cotton top tamarin was born in August, along with two male extremely cute fennec foxes in October. Unfortunately, the fox kits were rejected by their mom, just like the last kits :(.

    *A De Brazza's monkey has replaced the Diana monkey in the Primates of the World building; wonder if the Diana monkey died.

    *The 2013 summer special exhibit will be sting rays and sharks.
     
  14. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  15. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Hi Milwaukee Man, I'm curious what your feeling is about how supportive your community is about building large scale projects like a new elephant exhibit and hippo exhibit?

    The perception that one gets from the current political climate in Wisconsin is that people like Scott Walker are very anti-government, and would likely rather that places like the zoo did not get any public funds that would probably be required for large-scale projects like elephant exhibits. I ask because the perception one gets of a place in the media can often be inaccurate.

    Do you think that Milwaukeeans will want to keep the elephants, hippos, etc. if it requires building expensive new exhibits?
     
  16. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    @DavidBrown: Our community does support the new habitats. The problem is that because it's a county-owned zoo, all construction projects must be done by union labor. According to zoo staff, it ends up costing 3-5 times more than with non-union labor. There lies the problem of why projects take longer to get funded and require more private donations.
     
  17. jusko88

    jusko88 Well-Known Member

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  18. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  19. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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  20. BeardsleyZooFan

    BeardsleyZooFan Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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