Was talking with a volunteer today about how the zoo well, doesn’t promote itself well. They are in a state of protectism, or conservatism, afraid of the public knowing what’s going on. They were talking about how when they had removed the moose and when the last wolf died they were instructed to tell guest who ask about what was to come next to go to the zoo admission office and not to discuss future zoo happenings. When did the zoo get this way? The whole idea behind the zoo train was so that people could come see what the new zoo would be like. They wanted people taking about the zoo and the construction, and the hype about what is to come. Now it’s so secretive, there is no real answer, and one has to do a freedom of information act request to find out what other zoos actively promote.
In my trips to Milwaukee dating to childhood, which isn't as terribly long ago as to be so informative, they've always seemed exceedingly low-key. I recall going over ten years ago to see an exhibit that had been closed for renovation with no notices or markers on the maps or anything. A very nice keeper made up for it, and it was a fabulous trip, but my point is to note there was no promotion about it.
Just my personal speculations, but I think the original failed hippo habitat from 2008-2010 really scarred the zoo and its relationship to the public. They announced this big, amazing sounding project that everyone became very excited about, but ran short on funds and were left with that tiny little addition with a terribly glared window for viewing it. Since then the zoo hasn't announced anything until it's already under construction. Maybe attitudes will change with Adventure Africa? I sure hope so.
This is really the last thing they should be doing right now. Why not tell visitors the fate of the moose and wolves? It's not like something crazy controversial happened with them. If I were in charge, I would make sure the zoo would promoting Adventure Africa like crazy. Their would be all sorts of signs, renderings, and graphics scattered by the current construction zone. Their would be signs by the current elephant and hoofstock yards reassuring people that change is coming. Their would be papers and magazines by the entrance for people to read about. I would even give previews of what awaits in the new hippo and rhino exhibits. Maybe even give renderings for upcoming areas like the new East Entrance or Alaska's Cold Coast. Lastly, I would probably make a two pages on the website (Which imo should be redone completely), One for AA, the other for the master plan as a whole. Why not? I understand the abysmal hippo indoor addition (Which should really be used as an off exhibit area with the new exhibit) was a let down for the zoo, but that was almost a decade ago. The zoo now has several million dollars to play around with. They have actually began work on two of their promised master plan projects. I think this is perfectly reassuring to the public. How much as the new West Entrance and Otter exhibit been publicized? I can't quite remember anything major about other the now scratched up sign by the construction site and maybe one article when it was first announced (Plus one last year). According to a source, an article on the zoos website about the new entrance and otter exhibit should drop within the next few weeks, revealing opening date and sneak peaks at the exhibits. But if the zoo were smart, they would make it a big event. A perfect time to say something about the future. Why not tell the public that this is the beginning of a new MKE zoo? Why not get people excited? Now I don't expect them do this, I mean the groundbreaking for AA was supposed to occur last Spring but it just never happened and flew by without anyone caring. Why not hype it up and do something big and grand? Well that's the end of my little rant, but I hope you all see where I'm coming from. The zoo really needs to give these new areas some excitement instead of just letting them pass by without mention.
Honestly I couldn’t agree more with what you said. I was thinking about this and really I don’t read or see much publicity or anything about happenings at the zoo. Heck Miller park the baseball stadium right before opening shows off what they did in the off season to the stadium. Granted there’s really no off season at the zoo but they were in their slow season and were working on a bunch of small projects. Why not promote them or why the new animals in the avary. I was told last year around this time that in the spring that there was going to be a ground breaking ceremony, then the summer, and finally got snapped at and was told that it was another departments fault because they weren’t releasing the information to the general public until fundraising has met a certain goal. I’m not sure how fundraising for big projects go but I feel like you need to talk about it to draw peoples attention and cash to it. @Wild wolverine I was thinking about how their last major project was the hippos and it hit a snag because the donor hit a hard time during the financial crisis of 2008. Although that was rough it shouldn’t stop them from trying to gain people’s attention or money. The Fort Worth zoo has a whole page dedicated to their new campaign. Why can’t milwaukee do something similar and brand it real nice and then advertise it so people know about it. I still remember the zoo campaign in the 90s, and that was minor touch ups and not this large overall they are planning for AA. I know they have the ability to do more, I know they even put up a go pro over looking the construction of AA elephants, use it throw together a construction update, or newsletter or even a social media blast. There’s so much potential in creating an atmosphere of excitement and MKE zoo seems to be missing the mark and in turn it’s hurting themselves.
Great discussion! Unfortunately, this issue with not branching out to the public lies beyond future projects. They've done this with some animal acquisitions/births and deaths/departures as well. With acquisitions and births, it seems to only be restricted to the most well-known species, though there has been times where something that should have been a big deal went seemingly unnoticed. The biggest example of this was Milwaukee's first-ever red river hogs going on display in 2014. They went on-exhibit in July, never got mentioned until late September on the Zoo website, and never even got any other news mention elsewhere. They are getting better at this though, as they have shown off the many recent arrivals lately beyond the Zoo website. With deaths, it again looks to be reserved for popular or well-known individuals and species. I understand if it's something like a smaller species or a specimen from a plentiful species at the Zoo, but something like the last of a major species (the caracal for instance) or a noticeable absence (when both rheas passed in 2015, Nuri the tiger sent to another zoo) I feel needs to be addressed. I get the feeling that the Zoo is starting to get the message with being more open to the public leads to better opportunities. Now it has its free days sometimes centering on a recent arrival, there's a bit more coverage beyond Zoo grounds on other events or plans, and Adventure Africa is slowly but surely getting across communities. It's going to take more time and effort, but it's a start.
I wonder if with hiring a new social media director that they will start improving on the things we’ve been talking about. I think that the zoo is still operating under the marketing ways of old where people wait till the newspaper or another form releases the information. Now that we are in a world of social media they aren’t sure how to navigate the waters. That all being said I’m assuming that the otters will be arriving shortly because they will need to go through their 30 day quarantine, and I think someone mentioned May as the opening of the west end entrance, so maybe early April? Also I recently went to the zoo and saw that they are making quick progress on the elephant exhibit. Although now there seems to be a wall in the middle of the exhibit with small windows. I originally thought it was a retaining wall while they work on the new lake for the elephants but now looking at the diagram it appears to be permanent and I really dislike it. If anyone gets a chance to go to the zoo soon let me know what you think.
How did you get access to the former Australian area? It’s cool to see that the path through the middle is beginning to be paved.
AGREED! Obviously, by the profile picture, it may not come as a surprise that the river hogs instantly became my zoo favorite. I do have high hopes that the zoo will be more open with the public with Adventure Africa and the west parking lot/otters.
Went to the Zoo yesterday and here is a very small update. The Colobus are back on exhibit. While it does stink that the renovation was basically adding logs, it's still nice they have more things to interact with, and it gives me hope that the planned big renovation is still in the works. Also glad to see that they are using the old Diana Monkey exhibit, there is a Cotton-Top Tamarin on exhibit. Does anyone know how long that's been there? The west entrance looks very nice, definitely gives that part of the zoo a breath of fresh air. And the Elephant construction was in full gear, as there was something going on all around the site. I also wondered if the "Sky Safari" was going to run this summer or if the construction was going to leave it out of commission. If I was the zoo I'd try to keep it running, as it would be a great way to promote the project.
The cotton tops have been in that exhibit since early 2016. That’s unfortunate to hear about the colobus exhibit, but great that the new entrance and upcoming elephant habitat are coming along nicely.
Is the new outdoor exhibit complete yet? This really is disappointing, I was at least hoping for just a little more to be done.
The outdoor area looks close to be done, they are needing to reassemble the log fence for the humans to stay out of the exhibit. There may be some fine tuning but overall the exhibit looks done.
Visited the Lincoln park so this weekend. Besides the polar bear exhibit being extremely large, I would like to see the signage that they use come to milwaukee. Many of the signs try to convey to much information about the animal or not enough. An example would be the rhino exhibit. We know that there are two different black rhinos however, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen people pass one rhino for the next thinking that one is black and one is white due to the color of skin being displayed. Not to mention the signage doesn’t really tell what rhino is in exhibit, as you walk around the exhibit it gives different tidbits and one sign tells you what animal is in exhibit. The Lincoln Park zoo does a good job at explaining in the outside exhibits and what animal is in the exhibit. I would like to see milwaukee try to attempt that. Cut back or make the signs more reasonable to read and less busy, with different colors and objects in the poster.
Finally got some answers about the multiple exhibits for some of our small mammals and updates in the small mammals building. According to a zoo keeper the Goeldi monkeys are very territorial, hence why there are 3 separate exhibits for them. As for the Cotton-top Tamarin, the ones that are in the small mammals building are the older siblings to the ones that were in the primate building. Apparently they got to old and were chased out the family. As for the meerkat, he died last year. Also the armadillo had a baby and is being hand raised. She has been touch and go and the zoo is waiting till she is more stable before announcing her arrival. Lastly, the 3 leg mongoose shattered her other leg on the same side as her broken leg. They decided to put her down due to quality of life. The remaining mongoose has since become reclusive and has been hiding in the log since the death of its roommate. In other news, it appears that the west end entrance is getting closer to being finished. The otter exhibit was getting its glass installed today. Otter exhibit by MKE Zoo guy posted 26 Mar 2018 at 3:26 PM One of the Colobus did not take the move back to the exhibit well, as they have a sign posted explaining why the one Colobus isn't looking well. Colobus Sign by MKE Zoo guy posted 26 Mar 2018 at 3:28 PM The outside exhibit is still missing a wall to the exhibit that I missed the last time I was there. Primates outdoor exhibit by MKE Zoo guy posted 26 Mar 2018 at 3:29 PM Next, Adventure Africa phase 1 continues to progress with the framing of the soon to be walls near the Sky Safari. Lastly, The food kiosk over by the grizzle bears exhibit looks to be getting a new deck installed.
Young Bactrian camels Patrick and George have been sent to Rosmond Gifford Zoo. Meet Patrick and George, the latest additions to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
More new arrivals in the aviary, a group of black-necked stilts. Black-necked Stilts On Exhibit in the Aviary | Milwaukee County Zoo
