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Irvine Park and Zoo Irvine Park and Zoo News

Discussion in 'United States' started by Milwaukee Man, 8 Jul 2015.

  1. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  2. Milwaukee Man

    Milwaukee Man Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  3. EsserWarrior

    EsserWarrior Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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  4. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Of course I've visited this zoo and here is an excerpt from my 2014 Road Trip thread:

    Irvine Park & Zoo – This is a non-AZA-accredited facility located in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and it opened in 1906 amidst the 318 acres of Irvine Park. It all began with a deer exhibit and a bear den and over the years the zoo grew into a minor community treasure that sadly began to decline due to lack of new infrastructure. In 2002 the Park Board gave an ultimatum to build 3 new exhibits or close the entire zoo down and fundraising managed to meet its goal of raising $1.2 million to keep the zoo. A 5,000 sq. ft. American Black Bear exhibit was the first to be finished and by 2010 Bengal Tiger and Cougar enclosures completed the trio. Now the Cougar is gone, having been replaced by a Spotted Hyena.

    An enormous American Bison paddock is down the road from the Carnivore Complex, and amongst a few empty fields (for example 40 White-Tailed Deer were removed from the zoo a few years ago) there are large grassy meadows for Ankole Cattle, Rhea, Grant’s Zebra and Rocky Mountain Elk. All can be seen from a car as there are no proper walking trails to the exhibits and I did a lot of walking and still saw what seems like a half-abandoned zoo in about 30 minutes. Back near the Carnivore Complex is a row of 7 chain-link, old-fashioned cages with the following 9 species: Red-Tailed Hawk, Grey Fox, North American Porcupine, Black-Capped Capuchin, Coati, Helmeted Guineafowl, Red Golden Pheasant, Green Iguana and Ring-Tailed Lemur. Elsewhere there is an African Spurred Tortoise exhibit; a Farmyard with domestic animals, and a trio of aviaries with these species: Barred Owl, Great Horned Owl and Bobwhite Quail.
     
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  5. Wild wolverine

    Wild wolverine Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I visited this zoo for the second time today. The last time I visited was in July 2018, so I will include some details to compare the two visits all in one review.
    Welcome Center: Right next to the parking lot there is a large and long exhibit that basically looks like a fence was built along a stream and small pond, and two bridges over the stream were built. There are several ducks and other various waterfowl and some aquatic life including frogs and turtles in the pond. Unfortunately the Welcome Center was closed due to COVID-19.
    *From the very limited memory I have of the building from my 2018 visit, there are no animals in the building. It was mostly old pictures and facts about the city's and the park's history.
    Small Animal & Aviary Building: This exhibit is an all-outdoor stretch of exhibits that were completely rebuilt in 2016. The exhibits are very basic, but not the worst I've seen. They're decently sized for an admission-free, small town zoo like this one. The front half of the exhibits is all concrete, the back half is covered in woodchips and hay. One of the best features of these otherwise would-be low quality exhibits, is the animals's climbing opportunities and enrichment. There are plenty of toys in the exhibits for the animals to play with and way more branches and ramps than I expected for exhibits typical in zoos this size. The animals in the exhibits were the following; A troop of Ring-tailed Lemurs, an exhibit that was empty, a Male Coatimundi, Black-capped Capuchin monkeys, another Coatimundi (perhaps they are separated and being introduced as a new pair), Patagonian Mara, and North American Porcupine. The next section is 4 very tall aviaries that I was once again pleasantly surprised by due to the numerous perches at all levels of the exhibit. However, 2 of the aviaries were empty, leaving only a Great Horned Owl, and a Barred Owl.
    Petting Zoo: Unfortunately the petting zoo was also closed.
    *From what I remember of my 2018 visit, the petting zoo is average. A barn with a few farm animal stalls and a few little outdoor pens, and a medium-sized outdoor yard.
    Carnivores: Next up are three very similar exhibits that hold Spotted Hyenas, a white Bengal Tiger (possibly an orange one inside), and an American Black Bear. The exhibit's design confuses me. Rather than having large viewing windows, they have several small glass viewing windows each anywhere from about 8 ft-15 ft apart. Most of the exhibits are concrete floors mimicking a cave/mountain area. There are a couple of little patches of dirt and grass in the hyenas and tiger, and the bear exhibit has a nice waterfall and small pool for the bear. The exhibits have some shade, but it definitely wouldn't hurt to have more shaded area. The back wall of the exhibits have rock walls that the animals can climb, but the walls of the exhibit that aren't covered in rock are just cinder blocks painted blue. Overall the exhibits are fine I suppose, but some of the design choices made make no sense to me.
    Paddock Animals: This is both the best and the worst part of the zoo at the same time. There are several HUGE exhibits that look like all that went into building the exhibits was putting up a fence and building a barn. That being said, these exhibits are the most natural-looking in the zoo; each having tons of trees, tall grass, and hills. There is no sidewalk along these paddocks, just a dirt path going along the road (the zoo can also be seen as a drive-thru, which could be better for the paddocks due to their huge size, the dirt path for those who walk, and the fact that most of this section of the zoo is uphill. Another downside to the paddocks, they don't look very well maintained. I understand that such huge and hilly exhibits are hard to maintain but the grass and weeds are so tall, and the exhibits are so large, that you could very easily miss the animals depending on where they are in the exhibit. Which brings me to my final point- most of the 5-6 paddocks were empty on my recent visit. Only Bison and Elk have signage, and I only saw the bison herd.
    *During my 2018 visit, there were paddocks for zebras, an ostrich, and Watusi cattle (the only place I've ever heard of or seen these) so this visit fell flat. Overall, a lot of the zoo felt emptier than it was in 2018 with a lot more empty exhibits.
    Overall: The zoo has some pleasant surprises such as climbing opportunities and enrichment, but a lot of the design choices are not what one would expect from exhibits built all within the last 15 years (excluding the paddocks, I'm not sure when those were built). The exhiits are decently sized for the amount of animals they hold. I've been to 5 small town zoos in Wisconsin (Manitowoc Lincoln Park, Bruemmer Park, Ochsner Park, Timbavati Wildlife Park in the Dells, and Irvine Park) and out of those six, Irvine Park is probably the second or third best; behind Lincoln Park and maybe Ochsner Park. Like I said, the zoo felt emptier than it was in 2018, and unfortunately I did not bring my camera for pictures, so I will have to visit again in the future to share some updated pictures in the zoo gallery.
     
  6. Wild wolverine

    Wild wolverine Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    An old-ish article (from early June) about the zoo re-opening with limitations due to COVID-19 on June 7. It also explains that some of the animals that only live at the zoo in summer (zebras, watusi, and more) not be able to be transferred to the zoo yet.
    Irvine Park Zoo reopens with limitations
    *This explains why everything felt so empty, as described in my review above!
     
  7. Smaggledagle

    Smaggledagle Well-Known Member

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    News between July 2020-April 2022

    On May 14th, it was reported that on May 9th, a (1.0) American bison was born.

    Irvine Park welcomes baby bison

    On June 8th, it was reported that while the zoo has been reopened to the public, many of their exhibits such as the petting zoo, welcome center, and aviary being closed, or their pastures not getting more exotic animals such as watusi or nilgai.

    Irvine Park Zoo in Chippewa Falls reopens with limitations

    On June 19th, it was reported that the petting zoo will remain closed over the summer due to COVID-19 cases.

    Chippewa Falls pool, Irvine Park petting zoo officially closed for the summer

    On June 7th, 2021, it was reported that the zoo reopened the petting zoo section after May 31st, which includes goats, sheep, a horse, and a donkey (breeds not specified), and acquired a (0.0.1) eagle and 2 other predatory birds (eagle species not specified, nor were the 2 other birds), and has put them near the owls. There was also an (0.0.1) American bison that was born, as well as acquiring nilgai and watusi cattle in the pastures.

    Petting zoo, pasture animals are back at Irvine Park Zoo

    On September 2nd, it was reported that the zoo is going to repair the exhibits for the spotted hyenas, tigers, and black bears. It will cost the zoo ~$78,000 to repair all exhibits, and will be finished sometime in 2022. None of the repairs can cause unsafe conditions for the animals or the public.

    'It's taken a beating': Irvine Park Zoo in need of upgrades

    On January 5th, 2022, it was reported that a longtime zookeeper at the park for over 20 years is retiring with her last day being January 15th.

    Irvine Park zookeeper retires after two decades

    On April 6th, it was reported that the zoo is on alert for cases of avian influenza, but has let the birds, including the waterfowl, remain on exhibit.

    Irvine Park Zoo on high alert for bird flu
     
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  8. Smaggledagle

    Smaggledagle Well-Known Member

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  9. Smaggledagle

    Smaggledagle Well-Known Member

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    On May 22nd, it was reported that the zoo was loaned (0.0.5) zebras (species not specified) and are in the former nilgai pasture. It was also reported that the zoo has acquired (0.0.3) watusi, (0.0.3) wallabies (species not specified), (0.0.2) owl monkeys (species not specified), and a binturong., which are all on display in the Small Animal House. Also, a (0.0.1) American bison was born in the spring.

    Zebras return to Irvine Park, along with other new animals
     
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  10. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Some updates:

    Zebra born in Irvine Park zoo

    - A zebra foal was born September 11 (the first since 2015)

    - The zebras and Watusi cows are temporarily leaving the park at the end of September, since they dislike the cooler temperatures

    - A Mongolian horse will be spending the winter there
     
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  11. Smaggledagle

    Smaggledagle Well-Known Member

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    On April 26th, it was reported that a (0.0.1) owl monkey (species not specified) was born the week prior.

    What to expect this summer at the Irvine Park Zoo

    On December 18th, it was reported that the zoo would transfer a (0.1) spotted hyena and a (0.0.1) generic tiger to different unspecified facilities in January 2024. It was also reported that the facility's other spotted hyena passed away due to cancer in 2022, as well as an (0.0.1) elk passed away. Finally, the zoo announced they acquired a (0.0.1) red-tailed hawk and would be acquiring a bald eagle soon.

    Hyena, a tiger, set to leave Irvine Park soon
     
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