Milwaukee County Zoo Milwaukee County Zoo news 2016
- Thread starter Milwaukee Man
- Start date
Well, this is pretty overdue, but here are some updates from my visit on May 19th:
*According to the board in the Animal Health Center, the following were in quarantine: a male two-toed sloth (Milwaukee’s first in a few years), a male green naped pheasant pigeon, two male superb starlings, four dyeing poison dart frogs, a male black tree monitor, a female short nose vine snake, a female ornate flying snake, a male hottentot teal, and (though she has already gone on display as mentioned on here) a female orangutan.
*Speaking of the Animal Health Center, my visit marked the first time I saw the hospital room in action. On this occasion, a Japanese macaque was getting a dental exam.
*The new Chilean flamingoes are settling in nicely and seem to mingle with the veteran Caribbeans well.
*The Aviary has now reopened. The following changes I noticed include: a new sliding door at one of the entrances, a new floor in the Antarctic penguin viewing area, new skylights to allow for a brighter area in the free-flight room, and what appeared to be a new stream in the free-flight room. Apparently some mock rock was demolished and a couple new bird species were added as well, but I didn’t notice much.
*I saw the new female red panda – Dr. Erin Curry. She is cute, and something interesting I noticed is that she seemed to be darker in color, more black-furred specifically, than I have normally seen in red pandas.
*Our new female giraffe calf, which is quite adorable and recently named Zola, was on display inside with her mom Marlee. Apparently introductions to the rest of the herd are on hold because her half-brother Tafari can be a little rough at times.
*We have a new harbor seal on display – her name is Cossette, and she is one-year-old.
*A golden lion tamarin was born recently. Part of the Small Mammals Building was closed off with a sign announcing the baby and to give the new family some privacy.
*The prairie dog and badger exhibits were empty. I’m not sure what is going with the prairie dogs. As for the badger exhibit, I think it’s safe to say that, since the enclosure has been empty for about a year, Tink the badger has passed away.
*Foundations for most of the buildings at the second entrance construction site seemed to be set.
*According to the board in the Animal Health Center, the following were in quarantine: a male two-toed sloth (Milwaukee’s first in a few years), a male green naped pheasant pigeon, two male superb starlings, four dyeing poison dart frogs, a male black tree monitor, a female short nose vine snake, a female ornate flying snake, a male hottentot teal, and (though she has already gone on display as mentioned on here) a female orangutan.
*Speaking of the Animal Health Center, my visit marked the first time I saw the hospital room in action. On this occasion, a Japanese macaque was getting a dental exam.
*The new Chilean flamingoes are settling in nicely and seem to mingle with the veteran Caribbeans well.
*The Aviary has now reopened. The following changes I noticed include: a new sliding door at one of the entrances, a new floor in the Antarctic penguin viewing area, new skylights to allow for a brighter area in the free-flight room, and what appeared to be a new stream in the free-flight room. Apparently some mock rock was demolished and a couple new bird species were added as well, but I didn’t notice much.
*I saw the new female red panda – Dr. Erin Curry. She is cute, and something interesting I noticed is that she seemed to be darker in color, more black-furred specifically, than I have normally seen in red pandas.
*Our new female giraffe calf, which is quite adorable and recently named Zola, was on display inside with her mom Marlee. Apparently introductions to the rest of the herd are on hold because her half-brother Tafari can be a little rough at times.
*We have a new harbor seal on display – her name is Cossette, and she is one-year-old.
*A golden lion tamarin was born recently. Part of the Small Mammals Building was closed off with a sign announcing the baby and to give the new family some privacy.
*The prairie dog and badger exhibits were empty. I’m not sure what is going with the prairie dogs. As for the badger exhibit, I think it’s safe to say that, since the enclosure has been empty for about a year, Tink the badger has passed away.
*Foundations for most of the buildings at the second entrance construction site seemed to be set.
Lots of new animals and animals in quarantine, I'm very excited to see all these new animals. I got way too excited when I read that we have a sloth again! 
At last, the Zoo will be getting construction bids for the second entrance and otter complex.
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwauke...kee-county-zoo-preps-for-construction-on.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwauke...kee-county-zoo-preps-for-construction-on.html
Zoo announces new sloth! It will be strange to see a sloth in the old river otter exhibit, but it's great that he'll have room! Future family of sloths? 
Welcome Fezzik, a Two-Toed Sloth | Milwaukee County Zoo
Welcome Fezzik, a Two-Toed Sloth | Milwaukee County Zoo
Short article on the new baby harbor seal and bonobo. This is the third harbor seal born in Milwaukee in the past 3 years! Its interesting how it has become a yearly announcement, but prior to 2014, there had never been a harbor seal born at the zoo!
Milwaukee County Zoo announces birth of seal, bonobo
Milwaukee County Zoo announces birth of seal, bonobo
Updates from my two times walking around the Zoo in the last week:
*The new orangutan, a female named Rayma, has settled in swiftly. When I saw her, she had access to the entire space except for one room occupied by veteran male Tommy. She was incredibly active, climbing all over the ropes in one of the indoor displays, something I haven’t seen with Milwaukee orangutans in a long time.
*As announced on here, we are indeed up to five harbor seals, with a pup born a couple weeks ago. This is the Zoo’s third harbor seal pup, and is yet another son for Ringo and Sydney.
*Nuri the female Amur tiger is no longer on the board in the food prep room in the feline building. Don’t know what is going on yet.
*Female giraffe calf Zola has been enjoying the great outdoors now as well. She and Tafari seem to get along great – he likes chasing her around, making for a fun exhibit to observe. On a side note, it’s pretty amazing how the giraffe population at the Zoo went from two to six in just three years – time flies!
*Fezzik, the new male sloth (and Milwaukee’s first sloth in almost three years), is on display in the Small Mammals building now. The old river otter tank turned out to be a pretty good home for the slow-moving creature. Draining the pool allowed for several branches, a hammock, and other forms of climbing opportunities. A clever move, and definitely better than being crammed into a tiny glass box with a tamarin species as has been the case in the past.
*The baby golden lion tamarin is doing well.
*There was signage for Goeldi’s monkey in the former dwarf mongoose exhibit. I believe I saw a single monkey in there, but don’t recall for sure.
*I did manage to finally check our summer special exhibit “Bugs! Larger Than Life.” It’s not as awesome as the dino displays from past years, but still a very nice area especially considering Milwaukee doesn’t have any permanent invertebrate displays (at least none that I can think of off the top of my head). Visitors first come across the “Bug Shack,” a small wood building with terrariums full of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, tarantulas, spiders, and beetles. Afterwards, the path takes you past animatronic bugs like ladybug, bumblebee, emperor scorpion, devil’s flower mantis, Mexican red-kneed tarantula, etc. Overall, a decent, interesting summer special exhibit.
*There is now a small tree planted in the American black bear exhibit, to go along with the few digging areas and stream as part of the exhibit renovation. Unfortunately, despite being improvements to the space, I still think the result is sort of underwhelming considering the potential and opportunities it had. Maybe if the moat was filled in with natural substrate and some window viewing added, then that would’ve greatly added to the quality; perhaps this could be implemented in the future?
*The new orangutan, a female named Rayma, has settled in swiftly. When I saw her, she had access to the entire space except for one room occupied by veteran male Tommy. She was incredibly active, climbing all over the ropes in one of the indoor displays, something I haven’t seen with Milwaukee orangutans in a long time.
*As announced on here, we are indeed up to five harbor seals, with a pup born a couple weeks ago. This is the Zoo’s third harbor seal pup, and is yet another son for Ringo and Sydney.
*Nuri the female Amur tiger is no longer on the board in the food prep room in the feline building. Don’t know what is going on yet.
*Female giraffe calf Zola has been enjoying the great outdoors now as well. She and Tafari seem to get along great – he likes chasing her around, making for a fun exhibit to observe. On a side note, it’s pretty amazing how the giraffe population at the Zoo went from two to six in just three years – time flies!
*Fezzik, the new male sloth (and Milwaukee’s first sloth in almost three years), is on display in the Small Mammals building now. The old river otter tank turned out to be a pretty good home for the slow-moving creature. Draining the pool allowed for several branches, a hammock, and other forms of climbing opportunities. A clever move, and definitely better than being crammed into a tiny glass box with a tamarin species as has been the case in the past.
*The baby golden lion tamarin is doing well.
*There was signage for Goeldi’s monkey in the former dwarf mongoose exhibit. I believe I saw a single monkey in there, but don’t recall for sure.
*I did manage to finally check our summer special exhibit “Bugs! Larger Than Life.” It’s not as awesome as the dino displays from past years, but still a very nice area especially considering Milwaukee doesn’t have any permanent invertebrate displays (at least none that I can think of off the top of my head). Visitors first come across the “Bug Shack,” a small wood building with terrariums full of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, tarantulas, spiders, and beetles. Afterwards, the path takes you past animatronic bugs like ladybug, bumblebee, emperor scorpion, devil’s flower mantis, Mexican red-kneed tarantula, etc. Overall, a decent, interesting summer special exhibit.
*There is now a small tree planted in the American black bear exhibit, to go along with the few digging areas and stream as part of the exhibit renovation. Unfortunately, despite being improvements to the space, I still think the result is sort of underwhelming considering the potential and opportunities it had. Maybe if the moat was filled in with natural substrate and some window viewing added, then that would’ve greatly added to the quality; perhaps this could be implemented in the future?
csura999
Active Member
In the zoo's newsletter sent through the mail, it describes the zoo's plans for their Colobus monkeys, mandrills, and siamangs:
The siamangs and mandrills will switch their current exhibits (the siamangs will still have an outdoor exhibit--it's just not view able to the public). This means that the current siamang outdoor yard will be used by both the mandrills and Colobus monkeys--when one is on exhibit, the other species will have access to both indoor habitats which are set to be updated as well.
For the Colobus monkeys to have access to the yards, they need to have a corridor that connects their indoor exhibit to the current outdoor Siamang yard. The zoo is raising funds for the corridor currently.
It's great to finally see the Milwaukee County Zoo finally make well-needed upgrades!
Here's a picture of the plans: http://www.zoochat.com/583/primate-exhibit-renovations-452769/
The siamangs and mandrills will switch their current exhibits (the siamangs will still have an outdoor exhibit--it's just not view able to the public). This means that the current siamang outdoor yard will be used by both the mandrills and Colobus monkeys--when one is on exhibit, the other species will have access to both indoor habitats which are set to be updated as well.
For the Colobus monkeys to have access to the yards, they need to have a corridor that connects their indoor exhibit to the current outdoor Siamang yard. The zoo is raising funds for the corridor currently.
It's great to finally see the Milwaukee County Zoo finally make well-needed upgrades!
Here's a picture of the plans: http://www.zoochat.com/583/primate-exhibit-renovations-452769/
While I'm excited to see the changes and the colobus monkeys outside, I would be lying if I said I'm not at least a little disappointed that the mandrills will be moving from there more "modern" exhibit to one that hasn't changed since the 50s. I'm really hoping for some BIG improvements to the indoor exhibits...
The zoo's Malayan Tapir, Maggie, is now calling one of the black rhino outdoor exhibits home. She's still in the same indoor exhibit, but I'm happy to see her outside again! (In her former exhibit, which is now empty, she had some sort of issue with her feet and the ground, so she only had access to a small, off exhibit yard.)
Which exhibit, the big one or the smaller one?
@savetherhino: the tapir is in the smaller of the two rhino exhibits. The zoo's female rhino is now in the larger one.
@Moebelle: Both rhino exhibits have pools actually, however, the one in the rhino exhibit is much larger and deeper than the pool in the now Malayan Tapir exhibit. I would also like to point out that (as far as I've seen) the tapir is quite inactive, even in her "new" exhibit. She didn't swim in her old exhibit pool, but rather just lays by the door 9/10 times that I see her.
The pool itself though, I'm guessing its about 3-3.5ft deep.
@Moebelle: Both rhino exhibits have pools actually, however, the one in the rhino exhibit is much larger and deeper than the pool in the now Malayan Tapir exhibit. I would also like to point out that (as far as I've seen) the tapir is quite inactive, even in her "new" exhibit. She didn't swim in her old exhibit pool, but rather just lays by the door 9/10 times that I see her.
The pool itself though, I'm guessing its about 3-3.5ft deep.
GraysonDP
Well-Known Member
Wolves and moose are being phased out in the near future to make way for elephants. Australian exhibit might be getting closed too. Besides the elephant exhibit, does anyone know what else is in store for Milwaukee's future?
https://www.biztimes.com/2016/07/08/zoo-will-discontinue-moose-wolf-exhibits-in-near-future/
https://www.biztimes.com/2016/07/08/zoo-will-discontinue-moose-wolf-exhibits-in-near-future/
Moose are really disappearing from AZAit seems.
I missed when they announced plans in 2015 that they were switching to all bull herd. Is the plan to move the cows to a multi generation herd or let them stay?
I missed when they announced plans in 2015 that they were switching to all bull herd. Is the plan to move the cows to a multi generation herd or let them stay?
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Besides the west parking lot and otter exhibit (which were supposed to open Memorial Day 2015 FYI...) the zoo, as far as I know, has nothing planned. This new elephant exhibit is really going to be the big thing happening at the zoo for a while, and I'm very excited about it! I must say though, I would be sad to see the Australia exhibit go, it's smaller but one of my favorites in the zoo. Time will tell...
Slightly off topic from the elephants, here's and article on the zoo's new female orangutan.
Milwaukee County Zoo welcomes new orangutan
Milwaukee County Zoo welcomes new orangutan
Do you know what they have planned for both Malayan tapir and Southern black rhino for the immediate future?
Milwaukee seems to be losing many of it's more unique species as of late. It's understandable, especially as AZA's new elephant standards are justifiably demanding, but it's also a shame, as some of these species were what made Milwaukee unique.
I hope the Australia House survives and that Milwaukee has a long-term plan to bring back wolves. I'm not too hopeful about Moose.
I hope the Australia House survives and that Milwaukee has a long-term plan to bring back wolves. I'm not too hopeful about Moose.