Milwaukee County Zoo Milwaukee County Zoo News 2019

I may be there but not till after the main set of activities.

 

I just finished uploading nearly 60 photos of Adventure Africa to the gallery. I visited the zoo today for the first time in months, and at long last finally got to see the brand new exhibit complex.

Because it is very new, not everything was at its most ideal. The elephants were not allowed in the main yard today, as the heavy rain the past couple of days has made the yard very slippery, and as the elephants are still new to the yard they were not given access. The impala, zebra and gunieafowl were all either not on exhibit, or have not arrived yet. Overall, I was still able to get a good idea of the area in general.

Elephant Yard: The elephant yard looked much better than I expected. To my pleasent surprise, there actually was quite a bit of grass spread through the exhibit, and it looked much greener in person. It's excellent that there are several large live trees in the yard which the elephants apparently have already eaten from, which is great. The shade structures, feeders walls and back scratchers aren't exactly very pleasing to the eye, but I'm sure will be extremely beneficial for the animals. The pool area was my favorite, it is excellently designed and attempts a slightly more naturalistic look than the rest of the yard with smaller trees and some rock work. It also provides a view of the elephants without cable fencing blocking the way. The pool itself is of course also great, far better than the one in the old exhibit, and they have added a hose to spray the elephants on hot summer days from the pool. Overall, the elephant yard turned out better than expected, though the viewing is slightly awkward in places, and I feel it is a bit smaller than most modern elephant exhibits. Still for the animals it appears to be quite good and compared to the previous exhibit this looks far better without question.

Elephant Care Center: The Elephant Care Center was also very good. The dayroom is a solid size, and filled with enrichment devices scattered from the ceiling to the walls. The floor is also of course completely covered in sand. Visitor viewing is also a massive step up from the previous exhibit. Guests used to have to look from the outside in through glass to see the elephants in their disgustingly small pair of all concrete stalls. Now, zoo goers look at the elephants from a much less obstructed view, and the off exhibit stalls (which really aren't that "off exhibit") alone are far larger than the old indoor accommodation. The educational graphics in this building are also far above some of the best in the zoo. My favorite includes the "Junior Zookeeper Station" where kids can recreate activities keepers do with elephants such as brushing, fileing and drawing blood. The only real disappointment is the fact that the second level cannot be accessed by the general public, and is only being used for special events. A big missed opportunity for something unique, but overall the building is very well done.

Elephant Demonstration Yard: The presentations won't officially begin on a schedule until Memorial Day Weekend, though they have apparently been happening at random since the opening. I did not witness the presentation, though the yard itself seems perfectly good at what it was built to do. Nothing too special, though I don't understand why they decided to keep the old bear grotto backdrop as a wall to the yard. It doesn't at all fit the aesthetic of the area and is extremely out of place. The yard itself is once again fine for what it was made for, and will serve its purpose well.

Impala Plains: Moving on from the elephants, the impala plains yard is about what I expected. A pair of crowned cranes were the only animals on exhibit, no impala or zebras yet. The yard is very simple, a medium sized, grassy space with some shaded areas and tall trees. Again very simple, but you can only get so creative when it comes to hoofstock yards. Its very good for the animals, though I will say viewing is a little troublesome with black fencing surrounding the yard.

African Forest: I prefer this yard between the two hoostock exhibits. More was changed from the old Australia yard than what I had thought, mainly landscaping changes. No gunieafowl as mentioned, but it had the most active yellow-backed duiker I've ever seen. The bongos were also a joy to watch as well and I really did enjoy seeing the two species interact. This yard was put together very nicely, though the decision to add wired fencing to the ledges took away a bit from the exhibits look a bit. Still, another very good area.

Conservation Outpost: I wasn't sure how this building was to be set up, but I really like what they did with the space. A monitor displays narrated elephant footage with a small seating area, which visitors were surprisingly engaged in. Additional graphics include the differences between Forest and Savannah elephants, information on the 96 elephants campaign, and an area encouraged guests to sign a petition against the ivory trade. There are also windows that look into the nearby elephant yard. A nice repurpose of the old wolf cabin for sure.

Other Notable Areas: The two old picnic areas have been revamped and rebranded and are now referred to as the "Tembo Trail" and "Savanah Walk" and have additional seating. There are three "Adaption Stations" (Two for elephants, one for impalas and zebras) set up around the area that give visual graphics of the animals wild counterparts and certain behaviors they display, which is great. Perhaps the strangest design choice was blocking off the path behind the Impala Plains as a service road. What makes it even stranger is the fact that it cuts of the African Forest viewing area almost in half instead of at the very end. On the bright side, it at least prevents cross views from the other side of the yard. To end on a high note, the sky ride provides a breathtaking view of the entire area, particularly a spectacular overview of the elephant yard.

Overall, I really enjoyed Adventure Africa. Once the remaining animals get put on exhibit, the elephants are given full access to the main yard, and the plants come in more, the area will only get better. It is by no means an immersive, massive exhibit complex like ones other major zoos have invested in as of late, but instead a highly stylized African experience. The only real disappointments were the lack of public access to the second level of the elephants barn and the awkward viewing in some areas of the habitats. Once more, the first phase of Adventure Africa was a great success in my opinion and I look forward for whats to come in phase two next year.

 

Overall impression of phase 1 of Adventure Africa... Meh


African Forest:

The setting of the new home for the Bongo and the Duiker left much to be desired. The exhibit had been changed very little from the kangaroos to now the forest exhibit. The exhibit is also blocked off from public the back 1/3, as it now is part of the service corridor that runs along the backside of the Impala and African Forest exhibit. Not to mention they installed a metal wired fencing that obstructs your view of the animals if they don’t stay on the top 1/3 of their exhibit. The exhibit seems very underwhelming and very much an after thought.


Impala Plains:

The home for the plains zebra, impalas, and African crown cranes. I feel like it should be renamed to the impala hill, for when you are in the middle of phase 1 area the exhibit dips down and then rises, leaving the animals now at or above your height. The exhibit seems smaller compared to the former impala yard, or the Africa Savannah. There doesn’t seem to be much to the exhibit. Not to mention they have a chain fence for 3/4 of the height of the exhibit, leaving it hard for any photos of the animals not to look like they are behind a fence.


Elephant Yard:

Yep it’s a yard alright, not much to it. They have three feeding walls and a watering hole that can get you somewhat close to the elephants. Yes the exhibit is larger for the elephants to walk and for the first time have three real trees they can eat, however there is a lot of meh about the exhibit. The live trees are temporary additions to the exhibit. They keepers are hoping to get at least two summers out of them before they have to have the trees removed, due to the elephants killing the trees. The watering hole area appears to be nice and they are pumping in sounds from the African plains, but again overly simplistic.


Elephant Care Center:

Very little as a normal zoo guest will you ever get to see. The new home is very stark/ warehouse like/ and metal everywhere. The metal is understandable due to the strength of these awesome animals, however they could have added something to make it not so stark and warehouse like. The exhibit has options for keepers to hoist things up and move it around the exhibit making for enrichment option but again it feels like a warehouse. Interesting though, is their day room is about the size of their old outdoor exhibit. The normal guest area is small and you get a few strollers in there and there’s no room. I did enjoy that you could see all the way down to the other end of the complex though.


Overall:

I’m really disappointed in this new phase, if this is any precursor to what’s to come then I fear the zoo will not have the growth that it’s been wanting to see. Don’t get me wrong I’m glad the elephants have the roam to roam now, however there doesn’t seem to be a story or them that many zoos are implementing to communicate conservation. There’s still signs and activity centers placed around the exhibit but it feels forced. Many of the exhibits feel unfinished, not keeping up with trends of other metropolitan zoos, and forgettable. There are walls all over the place near the African Forest area, in the Impala yard, and around the former dall sheep exhibit, which has a sign posted in the exhibit that you have to look through the fencing to read. The sign reads that the dall sheep had past away and that the exhibit will be renovated for future African animal(s). The expansion gets the job done of giving some animals more room to roam but overall nothing that I feel would make Milwaukee zoo known for anything other then what it’s already know for.


Ps. Many of the animals weren’t even in their exhibits due to the exhibits being too wet for them to be on exhibit. Also many of the animals had not yet arrived nor cleared quarantine yet (zebras).

 

A few additional pieces of info from other parts of the zoo.
-A keeper stated that they hope to have all of the animals from phase one on exhibit by mid June.
-The colobus monkey outdoor exhibit is basically complete and should be open by the Summer.
-Nothing new with the hippo exhibit. Construction hasn't started yet and will likely commence in about a month.
-The bottom left portion of the elk yard was fenced off from the animals, likely to let the grass grow back.
-Some very active animals today. The brown bears were swimming and very playful, the elephants were obviously great to see in the new space, the mandrills were very fun to watch and the duiker was (as I said earlier) one of the most active I have ever seen.

 

Wow - some mixed opinions about the brand-new complex. Thanks for the reviews! I look forward to seeing it soon!

 

Do you mean grizzly bears?

 

Yes.

 

It seems one could describe the new exhibits as a bit lacklustre and sterile, right? Even a bit underwhelming perhaps?

I personally really do think that it would have been better if they had gone for 100/100 and not 65/100 even given the funding gap - better once good, than half backed needing updates -.

 

A brief video I made discussing the new Adventure Africa complex.

 

I visited the zoo today and found out that they have an orangutan in quarantine and they are planning to get ostriches, and they plan to start the Hippo exhibit next month from what I was told

 

My interpretation on the matter:

 

I was in the zoo’s hospital and can confirm we have two female ostrich’s and the female orangutan are in quarantine. Also they have closed off the Wong pheasant area, apparently to give the whooping cranes time to strengthen their relationship bond.

 

What exhibit will the ostrich be in?

 

Could be any of the three main African exhibits. African Waterhole (zebra, kudu, etc) as that’s where they always were as far as I remember. African Savanna (Thomson’s gazelle, vulture, etc) to fill in the void left by the impala. I’m really hoping for them to be in the Impala Plains though - it just fits for the world’s largest bird to return in a brand-new area in my opinion.

 

I may be leaning more towards the African Waterhole cause they have an empty sign holder. As for the other two areas they would be cool in their except I feel like the Savanna may be closed a lot this summer due to construction. However the Impala plains could be a good spot but would there be enough room once they get all the other animals in their? Either way it’s exciting to see ostriches at the zoo.

 

I am almost certain the waterhole will be where they are placed. The Savannah is awfully close to the hippo exhibit construction and I doubt they would want a new species there. I would love to see them in the Impala plains, but I'd say it's already pretty crowded considering its size, though I wouldn't rule it out.

 

A recent look at county records do show that bid process for the hippo exhibit will close next month so hopefully construction will begin late into the month! Although one thing I’m still not clear on is it they are putting the new water filtration system in the basement of the old elephant exhibit? Especially since the hippos and river hogs living above the area and from what I saw from the Cincinnati Zoo the filters are huge.

 

A fertile Whooping Crane egg has arrived from ICF:

Whooping Crane Egg Scorecard 2019 | International Crane Foundation

 

Went to the Zoo today and work was being done to the Elephant pool. I think I overheard a volunteer say that a leak was present. Hopefully it's nothing too serious

 

Finally got to see Adventure Africa today, so here is my late to the party review:
Impala Plains: Still, like other reviews, empty except for the grey crowned cranes. The exhibit is larger than I thought it would be, but still looks it's on the smaller side for the animals it will hold. Of course, its hard to gage size when only 2 birds are in the exhibit currently. Overall its nice although the fencing will be a potential problem. The plus sides of the fencing is that the animals will be very close and that if the animals are towards the center of the yard, they are around eye level, where the chainlink stops. The bad side is of course it's chain link. There is going to be little-no way to avoid the fencing in pictures of the animals.I'm also disappointed that the zebras and the male impala we have appear to be staying in the old exhibits. (Although the only thing out at the waterhole was a male kudu). I don't know if those animals not moving is 100% confirmed, but it is the way it's looking right now, which is unfortunate and seems pointless.
Elephant Care Center: Vast improvement over the previous indoor facility. Much, much more room, sand substrate flooring, and no glass or huge bars separating the elephants from the public. The elephants can even be viewed in their "off exhibit" rooms, and it looks very modern inside the building. My only complaint is that there are only 3-4 skylights letting natural light in for the elephants. That and whatever amount of light comes through the doors.
Elephant Exhibit Yard: The main spectacle! The main, big, empty, spectacle. Seriously, I wish Milwaukee weather would cooperate with us here, the ground is still too lose/fresh and slippery before the grass grows in and it rains all the time and has been mostly cloudy here. The grass is growing, slowly but surely. The exhibit is huge. Again, huge improvement over what the elephants had before. There are several enrichment opportunities for the elephants and some nice shade structures. I was pleasantly surprised that there are at least some things other than shade structures in the exhibit. A large concrete tree trunk, and termite mound, as well as the live trees and some large logs for the elephants makes the space feel more home-y for elephants.The waterhole looks really nice, and there are speakers that play sounds of water buffalo, frogs, and birds from a waterhole in Africa which, if only for a moment, makes you feel like you're in Africa. There are also some glass windows there, so guests could theoretically get within inches of the elephants, which is really awesome to think about. The building itself may be big, bland, and maybe ugly, but I found myself looking around at the exhibit more than the building; it was not distracting. I can only imagine that my (and gusts') attention will be grasped by the elephants once they're outside full time, making the building even less distracting. It will be in pictures, and it is the first thing you see upon entering the complex, but it is not nearly as bad and distracting as I thought it would be. It would have been nice if they could have added some texture to the concrete, or had a few big rocks or tree trunks even just around the doors would break up the massive wall, but some things are limited.
African Forest: My personal favorite part of Adventure Africa, partially because of its inhabitants, partially because it used to be my favorite spot in the zoo (Australia), and partially because its just a good exhibit. Again, larger than the old bongo and duiker exhibit, with lots of grass and shade spots. The metal bars going across the top of the exhibit are thinner than I expected from what I saw in pictures which is good, however its still annoying that they're there. Maybe they're just temporary until the animals are used to the exhibit? I can dream. To me, if they were going to put up bars, they should have put just one, the bottom one, or two, and left it at that. Similarly to Impala Plains, if the animals are towards the center of the exhibit, the bars don't obstruct your view. However, if the animals are close, there's bars getting in the way of the clearest view. Again, very nice exhibit, just those grey rungs really downgrade the view.
There is also the added negative, and my biggest complaint with Adventure Africa, the pathway off almost half of African Forest and half of Impala Plains from being accessible to guests. Granted, you may not miss much but if that's where the animals happen to be, you can't get as close. However, zoomoblie tours still go through the now blocked path so that is a potential option. I understand giving the animals privacy and that the zoo wants to promote breeding, natural behaviors etc, but the cut-off path interrupts flow and is frankly, just annoying.
Overall: Adventure Africa phase 1 is a HUGE improvement over what bongos and elephants had, and essentially the same version in a different spot of what impalas, cranes etc had. Aside from the cut-off paths and the fencing in the forest and plains, my complaints are brief. Obviously it would be nice to see all of the animals that are advertised at the zoo, but weather isn't cooperative. The elephant care center is bland from the outside exhibit, and the dall sheep mountain is still there (but you almost have to look for it. I don't think I would have noticed it if I wasn't looking for it). However, I look at Adventure Africa in two ways; kind of rushed & short-budgeted, and a vast, functional, improvement. The entire time, the zoo has been focusing on how functional the exhibit will be and how they will better care for the animals in this exhibit. The goal the whole time wasn't necessarily to be an aesthetically pleasing, artist masterpiece. On top of that, everything seemed rushed once it actually started. We have to remember, this exhibit did not happen solely because the zoo wanted it, it had to happen in order for us to keep our elephants. That being said, I feel as though because funds were short, the zoo was quiet about it for so long, and because we were already passed the AZA deadline of 2016, the zoo went to panic mode and did what they could in the shortest possible amount of time, which is a large, functional exhibit. I throughly enjoy the new graphics and guest interactive things throughout the exhibit. They are informative and perhaps the most aesthetically-pleasing part of the complex. No matter how you see it though, you cannot deny that is it a huge improvement over the old exhibits, which is also a major goal in all zoo projects.
I'm thinking that Adventure Arica will improve as more animals arrive, elephants are given access to the yard for frequently, and things settle in.
I'm hopeful that now that the zoo has announced and been fundraising for the hippo exhibit, and with the added excitement of phase 1 opening, phase 2 for the hippos will be even better.