Milwaukee County Zoo Milwaukee County Zoo News 2022

2.2 at Cincinnati and 1.1 at Memphis, Omaha, and Franklin Park.

 

Two Gentoo penguins hatched this year:
Milwaukee County Zoo Welcomes Two New Gentoo Penguin Chicks | Milwaukee County Zoo

 

Apparently the zoo has a new octopus

 

3.1 North American river otters were born February 7:

Milwaukee County Zoo: River otter litter born

 

Some nice recent births here: gentoos and now river otters.

 

Went to the zoo a few weeks back and there was some updates happening in the aquatics building. For starters both the former jellyfish and Puget Sound exhibits have changed or are under construction yet again.

Former Jellyfish/cuttlefish exhibit by MKE Zoo guy posted 9 Mar 2022 at 10:37 AM

Puget Sound Exhibit by MKE Zoo guy posted 9 Mar 2022 at 10:38 AM

The milk frog exhibit is once again empty, them seem to be doing work on it, not sure what is coming to the exhibit next, assuming its something tropical based on the paint scheme thus far.

Former Milk Frog Exhibit by MKE Zoo guy posted 9 Mar 2022 at 10:40 AM

Overall, one thing I was thinking about it once again the amount of empty spaces or lack of replenishing exhibits in Milwaukee. I realize with the current state of everything going on, that maybe it's just been difficult to transfer animals or what not, or something else entirely, its just sad to see the state of the zoo at the moment. I realize that we have a new zoo director and I have a feeling a lot more things will be happening in the coming years, however it still feels like the zoo is in darker part of its history at the moment. Yes, the zoo is taking great strides to move past it, however even the newer updates are still feeling dated, and almost not even an update per se.

Just touching on some things that I have noticed over some time.
* We still don't have a male lion for the females
* The male jaguar still doesn't have a female to breed with, last I heard there wasn't enough room in back due to tigers but that has been changed for some time.
* The two tigers we do have are siblings, haven't heard much talk about anything new with them
* Former polar bear and all other bear exhibits somehow don't feel humane to house bears in (my opinion)
* Small Mammals building needs some TLC
* Primates building needs to have some TLC as well, concrete or smooth floors kinda don't seem health for the animals, easy to clean yes but eh.
* Besides the gorillas out door exhibit, primates and apes just feel like more cages the bonobos don't even get to touch the ground for their "outdoor" space.
* African Savannah exhibit has just become a collection of birds (nothing wrong but for the first big exhibit coming down that hill, its kinda lack luster)
* Impala plains has become a muddy patch by mid summer, difficult to take pictures with animals due to fencing style.
* African forest, suppose to start a breeding program for the bongos and still waiting
* Former Dall sheep exhibit is still empty even years after finishing phase 1

Former Dall sheep exhibit by MKE Zoo guy posted 2 Mar 2022 at 6:21 PM

Sorry this is more on the spicy side of what I originally wanted to post, however its been things on my mind since traveling to some other zoos around the country and seeing more improved living conditions for their collection. Milwaukee has the potential to make something great for itself, and I am hoping that the new director begins to make those changes. Right now the zoo feels tired and outdated and really needs something big to spark some energy back into it. I want to leave on a high note though. The aviary is one of my favorite places to go to, they keep having different birds cycling through some of the exhibits so there's always something new to see.

 

I'd assume they'd want to breed Frankie as his genes would be valuable to the jaguar population

 

There are currently no plans for them to bring in new jaguars. They are keeping the same pair, presumably until the female dies. She is currently 18 years old.

They wanted to bring in a female from Denver to pair with their male. I don't know if they plan on doing that still.

 

Unless something changed recently, Denver doesn’t have any jaguars. Not since the late 2000’s I believe.

 

I meant to say Amur Tiger for the bottom statement! I guess I forgot LOL

 

I remember hearing that’s the plan, however just waiting for Frankie’s mom to pass before we get a new one seems to risking it, just in case something does happen to him.

 

To add to that, jaguars are also one of the longest-living big cats with some living to be 20-21, even 22 years old in captivity, so Stella could be around for several years yet. Frankie will also be turning 8 years old this year, which is by no means an old cat, but rather inexperienced with breeding behaviors. I'm no expert tho, perhaps that isn't a real concern.

 

In other unrelated news, the zoo is no longer requiring guests to wear masks in buildings, and all buildings are open to 100% capacity.

 

I am not sure of the reasoning behind it. The source I got the information from was from 2022, though, so I do not expect to see any changes soon.

On a side note, I know there has been a recommendation for them to breed their hyenas for some time now. I wonder why they haven't done so?

It also appears that Milwaukee has four Satanic Leaf-Tailed Geckos now. I wonder if they could possibly be going in the old Milk Frog enclosure?

Milwaukee is also phasing out Mandrills. They are sending their female - who is 31 years old - to Disney. I wonder what they are going to do with their old enclosure? Possibly a new area for their Colobus?

 

From what I remember hearing the hyenas have been breeding, however they haven’t had successfully live births yet. So that’s a bummer.

That’s a good thing I think for the mandrill, hopefully they can figure out some sort of expansion for any of the apes around there or something that would fit that space better.

 

I think that making it another area for Colobus would be interesting. Especially since they want to start breeding the species. However, I think having it as another area for Bonobos would be interesting as well. Expanding their holding space could allow Milwaukee to do some more breeding.

 

What if they moved the Lemurs from small mammals there?

 

That may happen. There has been no talk about them breeding any lemurs, so I wonder if they would want to give them that much space?

 

That I'd like to see! But considering lemurs take up a huge chunk of dayside Small Mammals, they'd have to get some new animals to take their place- not a bad thing either.

 

Interesting news about the mandrill, but I definitely think it's the right decision. It was a little depressing watching her during my last visit, appearing lonely since the passing of her mate, and Disney is an enormous upgrade. I personally think moving the lemurs here would be the best decision in the short term. I don't see this being used as additional bonobo space though, simply feels way too small even for just a few individuals.