Henry Vilas Zoo Henry Vilas Zoo News 2022

AnonGibbon said:
I like this!

The African area plans are pretty solid and almost certain to happen. The zoo has awarded about $150,000 (IIRC) for the design contract already. I agree that the zoo would be better to keep wild ass instead of zebras. According to a county document, the rhino spaces need to be big enough for "at least two individuals", and the giraffe spaces need to be able to "accommodate potential breeding". Meerkats are mentioned as a possible small animal for one of the exhibits in the new African area.

As for cats - the zoo's next major project after the African exhibits will be cat-focused. The plans for it do mention snow and clouded leopards and/or "other small cat species". This development wouldn't be for several more years so it will likely be subject to a lot of change.

If you're interested, I can send you some documents about the zoo's renovation plans.
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I'd love to see them!
 
Henry Vilas Zoo - We are heartbroken to announce that our...| By Henry Vilas Zoo | We are heartbroken to announce that our male bison, Beefcake, was humanely euthanized yesterday morning after his hea...
Terrible news: Beefcake the male American Bison was euthanized yesterday morning at 24 years old (just two days away from his 25th birthday, no less...). I'm gonna miss him a lot; he had a very unique hairdo for a bison, and I have fond memories of him rolling around in his dirt pile like a big dog. He also had the second-best name of any animal at the zoo, with Lazarus the Alligator Snapping Turtle still firmly at number one (and fellow recently-departed mammals Booger the camel and Shrek the capybara not far behind him). All that aside, I send my condolences to his keepers.
 
I was at the zoo today for volunteering, so I only had about 40 minutes of actual zoo time before standing in a booth for 2 hours. Nevertheless, I’ve got stuff to share:
  • I noticed some weird clumps of fur in the indoor orangutan exhibit. I asked a keeper and she said that the zoo gives the orangutans camel hair as enrichment. Interesting.
  • Speaking of the primate house, I finally got to see the Colobus Monkey!!!:D It’s so weird seeing a completely “new” species at Henry Vilas after nearly 3 years.
  • God, the bison exhibit feels so empty without Beefcake….
  • No Polar Bears (due to the heat).
  • Gila monster exhibit is still empty.
  • Does the zoo still have Red-Eyed Tree Frogs or Strawberry Poison Dart Frogs? If not, they really need to update their signage.
  • Birds are still off-exhibit (big shocker), but I did see some cleaning supplies on a table in the aviary hallway. Does this mean the aviary is gonna reopen soon? Probably not… (I just want to go back in!)
I’m not sure if I’m going to go to Henry Vilas one more time before heading back to AZ if the aviary isn’t open by then. Maybe I will if the weather is particularly nice and there’s nothing better to do, but who knows?
 
Corangurilla said:
Red-Eyed Tree Frogs
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I do not ever remember seeing any, so it has been years since they exhibited them.

Corangurilla said:
Birds are still off-exhibit (big shocker), but I did see some cleaning supplies on a table in the aviary hallway. Does this mean the aviary is gonna reopen soon? Probably not… (I just want to go back in!)
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I just wanna go in the darn aviary! Apparently, they redid all of the invertebrate enclosures at the beginning of the building, and the bats are in the room at the end of the aviary, and I am sure they did other things in there too. I just wanna go see it!
 
Other 2022 News:

On March 22nd, the zoo announced that due to avian influenza, the Aviary is closed, as well as some other species being placed off exhibit.

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On May 10th, the zoo announced that their (0.0.3) North American river otters that were born in February 2021 will be transferred to different AZA facilities in spring and summer 2022.

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From the zoo's Facebook: "Our Aviary is still closed because of the Avian flu, but there are signs that the spread is slowing and we are hopeful that we will be able to ease our safety restrictions sometime this summer. In the meantime, our animal care team is making sure that all of our birds are being well taken care of. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we ride this out!"
Here's hoping it reopens soon...
 
Alright, potential last Henry Vilas visit for a while. Here’s the deets:
  • I saw the baby orangutan and she was adorable!
  • Didn’t see the colobus, but there were no lemurs in the middle room and the back door was open, so he was on exhibit at some point today.
  • Some new greenery was planted in the Badger exhibit.
  • Some guy called Aayla the aardvark a rat. I am offended.
  • I was rummaging through some pamphlets in the volunteer center and I can now confirm that the zoo does not have Strawberry Poison Dart Frogs.
  • So many guests don’t know that the zoo doesn’t have physical maps.
  • Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: no, the aviary wasn’t open. BUT I did hear from a staff member that there hasn’t been any avian flu cases in the county for weeks. They said they’d let the birds back on exhibit by the end of the month, but then they said by the end of next month??? I swear, if it reopens while I’m away and closes again like the herpetarium did last year, I will scream. But with Milwaukee letting their birds back on exhibit, maybe there will be one more visit before I go back to Arizona? Only time will tell.
That’s all for this recap!
 
There is an event for Birds of the World Day (July 16) on the zoo's Facebook page. Maybe this is a reach, but I think this could be the reopening date for the aviary? Or at least the aviary could be open that day? It'd be pretty silly to celebrate Birds of the World Day without any birds.
Btw, the birds shown for the event were a curassow, mot-mot, turaco, some yellow bird I don't recognize, and a hornbill. All but the hornbill are in the aviary and haven't been viewable for over two years. Fingers crossed...
 
Ok, update on the aviary situation: a reply to a comment on Facebook revealed that the zoo is hoping to have the Aviary open by July 16th in time for the event. Which means I’m not going to be able to see it until mid-August… Oh well.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if it opens earlier than that - honest it's kind of shocking it hasn't already.
 
nczoofan said:
Heres an investigative report on the zoo. It details a culture of bad management from top management, resulting in the loss of the only black zookeepers at the zoo.

It also touches on a variety of incidents of animal deaths recently. These include 6 penguins of multiple causes, a capybara, 2 aracaris (drowned in a fish tank), and hornbill eaten by meerkat.

Racism, dead penguins and retaliation: Why the Vilas Zoo lost its only Black zookeepers
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On July 1st, it was reported that the zoo has been cited with 2 violations of the Animal Welfare Act* due to the capybara incident (jumping into a drained pool when it got sedated, breaking one of its legs) which was a critical violation, and a non-critical violation for repeated pest control issues involving raccoons.

https://www.roadsidezoonews.org/pos...n-after-roadside-zoo-news-tipped-off-the-feds

*It should be noted that the website Roadside Zoo News went and reported this to the USDA, which then brought in the 2 violations.
 
Had a rainy visit today:

Saw the baby orangutan for the second time.

The only other thing of note was that the penguins were out on exhibit again and there was a sandhill crane keeper chat scheduled. Flamingos were still inside, but it looks like the zoo may be easing some bird flu precautions for the more isolated bird exhibits with smaller flocks. Expect the aviary to be the last bird exhibit to reopen.
 
AnonGibbon said:
Had a rainy visit today:

Saw the baby orangutan for the second time.

The only other thing of note was that the penguins were out on exhibit again and there was a sandhill crane keeper chat scheduled. Flamingos were still inside, but it looks like the zoo may be easing some bird flu precautions for the more isolated bird exhibits with smaller flocks. Expect the aviary to be the last bird exhibit to reopen.
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Of course, they bring back the birds right when I leave…
Oh well, can’t complain too much!
 
AnonGibbon said:
Had a rainy visit today:

Saw the baby orangutan for the second time.

The only other thing of note was that the penguins were out on exhibit again and there was a sandhill crane keeper chat scheduled. Flamingos were still inside, but it looks like the zoo may be easing some bird flu precautions for the more isolated bird exhibits with smaller flocks. Expect the aviary to be the last bird exhibit to reopen.
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Is the aviary the only bird-related exhibit still closed?
 
birdsandbats said:
Is the aviary the only bird-related exhibit still closed?
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The flamingos are still inside, so I would count that as closed too, though of course you can still see them through the window. And I'm not certain about Buckbeak the sandhill crane. There was a crane keeper chat on the schedule today, but I didn't see him in his exhibit, and the door to his barn was still closed.
 
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