Milwaukee County Zoo Milwaukee County Zoo news 2017

Today was my first ever Winter zoo visit to Milwaukee. It was very fun and I got lots of info to share with you.

The reason the tayras are behind the scenes is that they are trying to breed them. If they reproduce they will go back on exhibit, but if not they will be sent to another zoo.

As I suspected, the caracal did pass away.

A tree kangaroo joey born in April is starting to come out of the pouch.

The zoo is starting to renovate the red panda habitat. The exhibit will go out to the entrance to cat country so It should double in size.

The zoo has made more progress on the new entrance. Some low walls have been put up.

The zoo is is speeding up construction of adventure Africa. Why? Well... I'm sure you know that zoo has holding areas underneath the pachyderm/cat areas. Well the flooring in the elephant barn counts as the roof to that, and it's starting to fall apart. This means if they don't get the elephants out of there asap, the floor will start collapsing under them! Yikes!

Good news for the pachyderms however. Adventure Africa designs should go up by the end of the month. The lady I talked to said that a enrichment wall is part of the design, along with a elephant sized popcorn machine! Things are really happening fast in Milwaukee.

I uploaded lots of photos to the gallery including the red panda construction and other things.

Lastly, Milwaukee Man was right. The animals where surprisingly active. From the macaques to the hyenas they where running all over there exhibits. Even the zebras braved the cold weather.

Note: I will be posting a review if the zoo soon if your interested.

 

Glad to hear you had a good time, pachyderm pro!

*Sure hope the tayras do stay. I remember asking something similar a year ago; I even suggested keeping the jaguars outdoors, and the tayras in their indoor space - kind of like what became of the caracal/cheetah set-up a couple years back. The keeper agreed, but said they couldn't because it's in a cat building!

*Interesting to hear about the red panda habitat - I only heard of enclosing it with mesh and adding climbing areas.

*What a shame about the pachyderm barn floors...I hope construction gets done before there's an issue. Though at least this gives an incentive to for sure keep moving forward with the project.

*Yes - a review would be nice to read if you have the time!

*Something else I forgot to ask earlier: what are zoos have (or used to have) a mixed-species exhibit with elephants and bongos? This will be interesting to see when Milwaukee accomplishes it, but strange in that a forest-dwelling antelope will be coexisting with elephants from the savannah.

 

Agreed, at least it will speed up construction. She said they aren't that bad yet but have begun deteriorating.

The review should be up tomorrow afternoon.

Yellow backed duikers are in there as well, that's more forest dwelling hoofedstock in the plans (okapi maybe?) maybe they will have the elephant habitat and a mixed forest ungulate yard that's separated. Guess we will see soon

 

Just to reassure everyone, the floors are not that bad yet. They are only starting to get very old. The elephants are in no real danger and it should hold out for another year or 2 while the new complex is being built.

 

Just did not want to alarm anyone.

 

I had extra time a posted my review earlier then expected. Feel free to check it out .

 

Well there are hyenas and red pandas in there so tayras would not hurt.

 

Encouraging rumblings and developments on Adventure Africa!

Is it clear already what the other hoofstock species will be (aside from bongo)? Would it really be possible to acquire okapi?

Design / outlay plans have been put up yet?

 

They should be reveled in the coming weeks.

 

Okapi aren't really that rare here (we have over 100 of them and the number is going up). A couple of zoos hold herd-sized groups. I don't think there will be any problem in Milwaukee acquiring them.

 

Here is a quick expansion round-up/Timeline for the zoo

Spring 2017 (Will most likely get delayed) - New Entry Plaza and Otter Experience
Summer 2017 - Renovated Red Panda Exhibit
Spring 2018 - Adventure Africa (Elephants, Forest Antelope, and possibly others)

Upcoming Expansions with no date for completion.
Hippo Expansion (Underwater viewing and more land space)
Rhino Expansion
Primate Expansions (New indoor and outdoor exhibits for Mandrills, Siamangs, and colobus Monkeys)
Alaska's Cold Coast (Seals, Sea Lions, and possibly others)

 

It's nice to see Milwaukee moving forward.

I took a winter trip around ten years ago, when they first acquired the Red pandas, and remember how dead it seemed - maybe five other guests in the whole zoo. The animals weren't always as active but it sure was nice not to be fighting visitors for space to see animals.

 

Well, I took a trip to the zoo today and had a great time! Here are some updates:

*Sulaiman the baby gorilla was fun to watch as he was playing with some hay in a tub, and giving his dad Cassius a bit of a hard time.

*Small Mammals: apart from the main fruit and vampire bat exhibits, all the night side exhibits have new lighting, changing from dark blue or very dim white (forgot which it was) to red. I think this is more beneficial because the animals were a lot more active and seemed more comfortable. Also, there was a second potto on display that I didn't know we had until today. No idea about the name or where he or she came from.

*Adventure Africa: according to a couple of keepers I talked to, Australian animals will be moving out in spring, and the current Australia building will become the new hoofstock barn (smart move). Bongo and duiker (as mentioned on here before) are confirmed, and zebra and impala are also possibilities but nothing with them is for-sure yet. Old elephant exhibit: as pachyderm pro mentioned on here, a keeper said that more rhinos are possible, but the keeper also mentioned more hoofstock as a possibility (fingers crossed for okapi).

*There wasn't anything too significant with the second entrance construction from what I could tell.

*New eastern black rhino Jozi continues to settle in well.

*This is delayed news from early November, but a new enrichment item was put into the elk exhibit. It's a wooden frame that has a log hanging from it - perfect for bull Comanche to spar with.

*An enormous mound of sand has been installed in one of the indoor elephant pens. Sure must be a nice relief for Brittany and Ruth from the hard concrete (and a nice preview for them for what awaits them next year)!

*A couple of Gentoo penguin chicks that hatched a week ago were on display. Cute little fuzzballs they were!

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: All three tiger cubs were exhibited together in the former caracal exhibit. While one mostly kept to itself dozing, the other two were chasing, stalking, and wrestling with one another.

 

Thanks for the updates! I noticed the sand mound in the elephant stall on my visit as well, forgot to mention it.

Adventure Africa seems to be developing well. I thought that Australia would be the hoofstock barn, seems just right for it. I presume the new elephant barn will take up the former wolf yard, and the main yard taking up the former moose and bear exhibits. Its just a guess but it would make sense. Also, I think were overlooking a key detail for the new elephant exhibit. If they don't fill it in, the elephants could get the old moose pool. Its massive, its at least 6 times larger then the current pool. Would be great to see them swin it in.

 

Do we know if the bongos and duikers be in the same exhibit as the elephants, or are they all going to be separate? I feel like if they are changing the Australia Building into the hoof stock barn, they may use the current kangaroo/emu yard for the hoof stock as well. Just a theory.

 

A roundup of everything else we know regarding Adventure Africa

The current target date: Spring 2018.

Current animals: African elephant, bongo, yellow-backed duiker.

Possible animals: Zebras, impala, ostrich.

Barn size: 1200-1500 square feet.

Outdoor space: 5 acres.

 

Is that all animal space, or is that animal and visitor spaces combined (the entire complex)?

 

from what i know/read, that is the exhibit only

 

Two articles from the zoo's website:
New Bird Species- Zoo Welcomes Two New Species to Aviary | Milwaukee County Zoo
Adventure Africa- Pardon Our Dust as We Make Way for BIG Changes! | Milwaukee County Zoo

I'm happy to hear that wolves may come back in the future, but still am sad to see the Australia Building go in spring.

 

Thank you for the article Wild Wolverine. Nice to see that Impala, and zebras are getting new exhibits as well. Its also exciting that wolfs may come back in a few years. Can't wait for spring .