Milwaukee County Zoo Milwaukee County Zoo news 2007-2012

J

Jaguar

Member
Has anyone ever visited here before?

I plan on going sometime soon, maybe this Saturday. It's also my hometown zoo.
 
Maybe you could post a few nice pics on the gallery of some interesting animals from your visit to your zoo?
 
Jaguar,

Can you look at their black rhinos and report back on the forum about them? How many? Who? Any breeding? Much obliged ....!!!
 
Milwaukee zoo got the first zoo bred (pair) Indian rhinos ever bred in captivity, the young male was bred at Basel zoo and the young female was bred at Whipnade zoo UK, (I think these were the first two captive bred Indian rhino of the species)
 
MARK said:
Milwaukee zoo got the first zoo bred (pair) Indian rhinos ever bred in captivity, the young male was bred at Basel zoo and the young female was bred at Whipnade zoo UK, (I think these were the first two captive bred Indian rhino of the species)
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YEs, They did. And I believe they never bred at Milwaukee either.....

I believe their names were Mohiniji ( female calf from Whipsnade) and Rudra(male calf from Basel) They were indeed the first two calves bred in zoos.

Whipsnade might have been wiser to keep their calf as it was a female... The story goes that when a couple of years later the two zoos(Basel and Whipsnade) each produced a 2nd calf but with the sexes reversed, Whipsnade invited Basel to make up another young pair to send away. This time, as Basel had the female calf, they were told- 'no thanks, we're keeping her for breeding...' and they did. ;)
 
I hope it's okay to bump an old topic, but I have some facts to post about the Milwaukee County Zoo:

- Has the largest population of bonobos in the world outside of their natural range in the African Rainforest.

- One of twelve zoos in the world to have American moose on exhibit.

- Exhibits the rare Guam Kingfisher, and the endangered whooping crane.

- The first zoo ever to successfully breed polar bears and raise a baby polar bear cub to adulthood.

Also, here's the link to the site: Welcome to Milwaukee County Zoo!
 
okapikpr said:
An article in this IRKA newsletter is about the zoo's rhino program.

http://www.rhinokeeperassociation.org/newsletter/thecrash_v2_i1.pdf
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Any news on breeding from the old xBarley and the new xMimi combos?

I do still have the lingering hope that more white rhinos will leave the small rhino holding facilities and open up space for southern blacks to actually breed! It is a similar situation with repatriation to S.Africa, Botswana or Zambia (Zimbabwe out of bounds at the moment) ... One would assume much is to be gained from the over-represented males born into the SSP breeding programme proving useful for mega population management in southern Africa (SADC .. okapikpr)!
 
Happy the male hippo from the national zoo is moving to Milwaukee, to make way for more room for the Asian elephants .

 
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Just got back from a visit to the zoo today and I have a few updates to share:

1. I saw the new outdoor bonobo exhibit for the first time today. Honestly, I thought wrong about this exhibit. It is just a trail of cage, yes, but the bonobos seemed to be active and content. It isn't the jungle habitat that can be seen in Columbus, but still an improvement from being an all indoor exhibit. Overall average.

2. A new female gorilla arrived from the Woodland Park Zoo. It is with hope that she will be mated with Cassius, the zoo's silverback, and baby gorillas will be in Milwaukee!

3. Twin cotton top tamarins were born in July, and were on exhibit. They're so adorable!

4. Today marked the first time I saw a potto (what a unique animal) and a kangaroo Joey (the highlight of the day and another adorable baby!)

5. Though I didn't go to the aviary, I heard that scarlet ibis are now on exhibit. This is the 1st time in 30 years they've been here.

6. As you might know, 3 lion cubs were born in late July. They'll be on exhibit in a few weeks, but I did see them via video camera. I hope to be back soon to see them!
 
Sorry for the lack of a link, but the lion cubs, 2 males and a female, went on exhibit for the first time today. Can't wait to see them! :D
 
Well, I just got back from a trip to the zoo, and I have more updates and news to share.

I'll start with the lion cubs, which were the main reason for my visit. The trio of cubs were adorable to see, but they were all sleeping after a period of play time, which I just missed out on. (Dang it!) Next, it turns out today was the Zoo's Halloween celebration. As part of it, I got to see many animals, such as snow leopards, tigers, elephants, bears, and even lemurs tear away at the pumpkins they received for enrichment. Another interesting set of news is that Willie, a male polar bear from North Carolina Zoo, arrived back in September, and will stay in Milwaukee while NC's exhibit is renovated and expanded. Due to Willie's advanced age of 25 years old, however, I heard that he may stay in Milwaukee for good.

Finally, here's the highlight of the day. Our black rhino pair, male Brewster, and female Mimi, could become parents in the next year or two. Mimi seemed to be in heat, so the two were exhibited together today. For the whole half hour or so I was at the exhibit, the rhino duo put on quite the courtship. Mimi was vocalizing up a storm, the two pachyderms had a couple intense standoffs, and Brewster received a couple of beatings, leaving him pretty bloody in the face. Rhinos are one of my favorite animals, so this was one the ultimate zoo experiences for me.

Whew, what a day!
 
I was curious if Willie was ever going to move from the NC Zoo during the exhibit construction. The other polar bear did and I was confused why he was left behind.
 
North carolina zoo's 26 yr old polar bear willie is now on exhibit at his temporary home milwaukee zoo til 2013.
 
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