Milwaukee County Zoo Milwaukee County Zoo news 2013

You are certainly right ! I stand corrected on that one.In 1959 Bongos were far from common in zoos anywhere in the world thus Cleveland at the time they acquired one (Karen) they claimed to be the only zoo worldwide holding one.Over time this must of led some folks to believe Cleveland to be the 1st zoo to exhibit them.

Can any one however confirm whether or not Cleveland exhibited the 1st breeding pair (1963-Karen and Biff which by the way never produced offspring) ?

Team Tapir223

 

That much may be true,but the Lynx "Mammals of the world"[which embraces Groves to a large degree] takes the viewpoint that the taxon is monotypic-a surprise really given the disparate distribution.

 

I'm taking my source from his Ungulate Taxonomy.

 

Its a little vague-but Crandall in his epic book on wild mammals in captivity states that Romes 1935 female was followed shortly after by a male[intimating that they were a pair].Biff by the way was apparently from Ghana..so under the "old" taxonomy[see above]wouldn't have been regarded as a true pair...but now possibly so!

 

@blospz: According to another article I read, I believe it was only the indoor cheetah exhibit that was occupied by keepers for the week.

 

Updates from today's visit:

*Today I saw several of the new arrivals that have been announced: Ziggy the female giraffe, Genghis the male snow leopard, and Nyota the female spotted hyena.

*According to the board in Big Cat Country's kitchen, we are now down to just one cheetah - Nama. I am assuming that Damara, Nama's brother, was moved to another facility or passed away (mostly likely from sickness). By the way, B'alam and Zean the jaguar cubs are now as big as their mother - they grew up fast!

*Two greater kudu calves were born in June and July; however, they weren't on exhibit because our zebra could show aggressive behavior towards the calves. Also, I heard an alpaca was born on-exhibit yesterday.

*For the first time in a while, I took the time to see an animal demo today. This one for the Bactrian camel; it was cool to be so close to this unique creature and hear a few facts about the differences between the two camel species.

*The black bear exhibit was renovated this year with the addition of a few trees, and a small waterfall with a stream. The waterfall and stream are nice, but I was a little disappointed to see that the "trees" were just large bare trunks with spreading branches rather than planted trees. It does allow plenty of climbing opportunities, and I know the bears would tear up young trees if they were planted, but they could always just be hotwired off until they grow bigger, and then allow them to climb on something that is more naturalistic.

*The Australia Building now has a kookaburra and tawny frogmouth living together; their exhibit once held an elderly turkey. I thought the birds had a nice little area put together for them - some woodchips, perches, and plenty of lush branches.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Ruth, one of the two African elephants, and one of the Baird's tapirs both stole the show today! Ruth was splashing mud all over herself with her trunk, and then began tearing away at the bark on the branches that were in her exhibit. The Baird's tapir was patrolling the whole South American area, took a dip in its pool, and even came close to chasing one of the rheas around! Never seen a tapir that active before!

 

Milwaukee County Zoo's Puddles the hippo dies at 37

 

R.I.P. Puddles .

On my August 2nd visit, there was a sign by the indoor hippo area stating that one of the females was getting medical care, but I wasn't sure which one it was.

And it's too bad because Happy (the male) and Puddles were getting along quite well.

 

An interesting article about the jaguar cubs' personalities, and their interactions with their dad, Pat the Cat.

What?s New With Our Jaguar Cubs? | Milwaukee County Zoo

 

Bonobo babies

Bonobo Babies! | Milwaukee County Zoo

And more info about the previously mentioned kudu calves:

Kudu Births! | Milwaukee County Zoo

 

Does any one know the names and ages of all 18 bonobos?

 

We Welcome New Alpacas to the South American Yard | Milwaukee County Zoo

 

Hi Tim
Rome had a pair from 14 November 1935 when female H'rabi arrived from the Ituri Forest captured by the famous Attilio Gatti untill 17 August 1938 when the male from Aberdare Mt died. No breeding and much aggression by the male, possibly as a result of handrearing.
I should be interested in a recent paper on the Nigerian pigmy hippos published on Zoo Grapevines. It is possible to have a pdf?
Thanks

 

The Zoo just posted its 2012 annual report:

http://www.milwaukeezoo.org/pdf/ZooAnnReport2012.pdf

 

According to a newsletter that I received yesterday, a new giraffe from Blank Park Zoo will be arriving later this fall.

 

According to the home page on the Zoo's website, the outdoor lion/hyena yard closed on September 26th for construction. No more details were given besides that it will reopen sometime in the next several weeks.

 

Willie, North Carolina Zoo's visiting polar bear, has died.
Female Snow Lilly is now the Zoo's only polar bear.

Milwaukee County Zoo polar bear Willie euthanized - m.JSOnline.com

 

It has been a devastating year for the US zoo polar bear population. I really hope for cubs later this year to almost even out the amount of polar bears that were alive at the beginning of this year.

 

Is not a Problem for US zoo polar bear population. He was too old and neutered.

 

The Zoo is fundraising to update the outdoor gorilla habitat.

Annual Appeal: Plan it for the Apes | Zoological Society of Milwaukee

I was hoping for an expansion into the surrounding woods, but at least the current exhibit will be more enriching for the apes.