Henry Vilas Zoo Henry Vilas Zoo News 2024

ConcernedThirdParty said:
I just spent a few hours going over the statutes and administrative codes. As one might expect, they are long, dull, jargon riddled, and self-contradictory. I don’t have time to look through these further or the money to hire an environmental lawyer. So, I once again find myself relying on what has always been my primary source for Wisconsin herptile law.

The WI DNR has long maintained this document summarizing the laws regarding Wisconsin’s native herptiles. It has changed little over the years except for the conservation status of a few species.

https://p.widencdn.net/xj9s5p/ER0102

My read on it was always that AZA facilities were receiving a “carte blanche”, a “do whatever you want and get away with it badge”.
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This news article from August 2023 basically confirmed my conclusion.

Wisconsin Republicans consider bill to weaken oversight of roadside zoos

For a small underfunded facility that has benefited from this for so long (I think as long as the WI endangered species act has existed). If they lose their AZA accreditation, it will be a culture shock and a half to have to play by the normal rules. They will be drowning in paperwork and administrative costs.

These are the species with state level protections that Vilas either currently has or has had recently. * is definitely still present. ** is species ID unclear.

Threatened​
  • Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron - Nyctanassa violacea*
Endangered​
  • Ornate Box Turtle - Terrapene ornate ornate*
  • Eastern Massasauga - Sistrurus catenatus catenatus
Protected Wild Animal​
  • Gophersnake - Pituophis catenifer
  • Gray Ratsnake - Pantherophis spiloides**
  • Timber Rattlesnake - Crotalus horridus
  • Blanding's Turtle - Emydoidea blandingii
For the record, Vilas is my local zoo and I will be devastated if they lose their accreditation, but I think that it is likely to happen.
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I understand and sympathise with your concerns.
 
ConcernedThirdParty said:
I just spent a few hours going over the statutes and administrative codes. As one might expect, they are long, dull, jargon riddled, and self-contradictory. I don’t have time to look through these further or the money to hire an environmental lawyer. So, I once again find myself relying on what has always been my primary source for Wisconsin herptile law.
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Environmental lawyer here.

The State Endangered Species Act has an express carve out for municipal zoos. Wis. Stat. 29.604(8).

The actual permit discussed by the news articles is an exhibitor’s permit. Basically, they would have to get a state license and be subject to state DNR inspections in addition to USDA ones. Except, not even that. There’s also a carve out in the exhibitor license statute for publicly owned zoos.

As for the AZA standards I believe that Henry Vilas would still satisfy them without a state exhibitor’s license because they are not required to have one under the law, regardless of if they’re AZA accredited.

In short, no, this doesn’t mean anything at all for their licensing or lack thereof.
 
Persephone said:
Environmental lawyer here.

The State Endangered Species Act has an express carve out for municipal zoos. Wis. Stat. 29.604(8).

The actual permit discussed by the news articles is an exhibitor’s permit. Basically, they would have to get a state license and be subject to state DNR inspections in addition to USDA ones. Except, not even that. There’s also a carve out in the exhibitor license statute for publicly owned zoos.

As for the AZA standards I believe that Henry Vilas would still satisfy them without a state exhibitor’s license because they are not required to have one under the law, regardless of if they’re AZA accredited.

In short, no, this doesn’t mean anything at all for their licensing or lack thereof.
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Thank you for your expertise. That actually helps put a lot of things that have been going on locally into context.

It's good to know that even if they do lose their accreditation, they should be able to keep functioning and maybe recover it later.
 
Took a quick visit today and here are some updates:
  • An Eastern Massasauga is now on exhibit
  • Part of the Children's Zoo is closed. It appeared they were doing construction on the outdoor meerkat exhibits. The only part of the Children's Zoo that are open to the public is the indoor viewing for the gibbons and aardvark, the outdoor gibbon exhibit, and the outdoor red panda exhibit.
 
Valentinoamor said:
  • Part of the Children's Zoo is closed. It appeared they were doing construction on the outdoor meerkat exhibits. The only part of the Children's Zoo that are open to the public is the indoor viewing for the gibbons and aardvark, the outdoor gibbon exhibit, and the outdoor red panda exhibit.
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I wonder if they finally got around to renovating the old Porcupine habitat into a proper space for the Galagoes.
 
ConcernedThirdParty said:
I wonder if they finally got around to renovating the old Porcupine habitat into a proper space for the Galagoes.
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I talked to a staff member and they indicated that there was construction being done on the outdoor meerkat exhibit that had a lot of construction traffic in and out, hence the closure.

I've never noticed anything wrong with the bushbaby exhibit; what else do the busbabies need? It was my understanding that this exhibit was open after the passing of their porcupine so i'm glad it is being put to use. It is hard to find this nocturnal species but it would probably be terrible if they took away all of the hiding spots.
 
ZooZoomer2401 said:
I talked to a staff member and they indicated that there was construction being done on the outdoor meerkat exhibit that had a lot of construction traffic in and out, hence the closure.

I've never noticed anything wrong with the bushbaby exhibit; what else do the busbabies need? It was my understanding that this exhibit was open after the passing of their porcupine so i'm glad it is being put to use. It is hard to find this nocturnal species but it would probably be terrible if they took away all of the hiding spots.
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The last time I saw it, the exhibit was very empty and did not have enough things to climb on. It only appeared to be a few hanging ropes. Some large, sturdy branches and more hides and ropes would highly increase their welfare.

Thank you for confirming the construction!
 
Valentinoamor said:
The last time I saw it, the exhibit was very empty and did not have enough things to climb on. It only appeared to be a few hanging ropes. Some large, sturdy branches and more hides and ropes would highly increase their welfare.

Thank you for confirming the construction!
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Yes this. Also, It would be great to see blackout walls put up around it so they are more comfortable being active during the day when visitors are present.
 
Valentinoamor said:
The last time I saw it, the exhibit was very empty and did not have enough things to climb on. It only appeared to be a few hanging ropes. Some large, sturdy branches and more hides and ropes would highly increase their welfare.
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while visiting the Memphis zoo, I noticed they had a bushbaby exhibit, although I did not see it was in a nocturnal setting with red lighting, but with the exhibit being semi-outside, seeing an animal in red lighting outside may be difficult.
 
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A 26-year-old woman has been permanently banned from the zoo after she tried to jump into the Somali Wild Ass exhibit and touched one of the asses through a fence. The woman allegedly battered zoo staff when told to leave before continuing to run around the zoo, and was later arrested for disorderly conduct in addition to her permanent ban from the zoo.
https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/...es-and-attempting-to-enter-animal-enclosures/
 
ConcernedThirdParty said:
It looks like they delayed reporting the births for some reason. I bet the new construction is babyproofing the exhibit.
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Waiting for a few weeks to announce new arrivals is pretty standard. Poor form to say you had x number of babies born only to have to give sad news about losses days later. Even dogs and cats that are accustomed to human intervention/interference don't have 100% survivability to weaning. Congratulations to them, 4 is a lot of babies!
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
A 26-year-old woman has been permanently banned from the zoo after she tried to jump into the Somali Wild Ass exhibit and touched one of the asses through a fence. The woman allegedly battered zoo staff when told to leave before continuing to run around the zoo, and was later arrested for disorderly conduct in addition to her permanent ban from the zoo.
https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/...es-and-attempting-to-enter-animal-enclosures/
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A Wappie fake rag.... :rolleyes:! I am glad nothing untoward happened while she was scouring the wild ass habitat and that she was arrested for behavioral misconduct (I believe more zoo visitors alas correspond to this demographic or replicate inate behaviour ... and alas a certain cohorte from this segment would deserve similar removal from the zoo premises .... .
 
The zoo's sandhill crane, Buckbeak, will be moving to Brookfield Zoo Chicago later this month.

Henry Vilas Zoo on Instagram: "We are gearing up to bid a fond farewell to Buckbeak, our male sandhill crane, later this month. Buckbeak will be heading to an AZA-accredited facility in Illinois that recently opened a brand-new multi-species exhibit. He will be paired with an older female crane who will be able to show him typical crane behaviors. Buckbeak arrived at Henry Vilas Zoo in late 2016. He was found in a parking lot chasing people and begging for food. It was clear from his behavior that he had imprinted on humans, which most likely happened when someone tried to raise him as a pet. Imprinting is a learning process that happens when birds form a strong bond in the first few weeks after hatching. Typically, they imprint on their parent, but when a human tries to raise a wild bird, they can imprint on humans. The imprinting process is vital for survival and happens when chicks are very young, which is a critical period of development. Because Buckbeak never learned appropriate crane behaviors from his parents, he is unable to be released back in to the wild. Buckbeak has greeted thousands of guests - sometimes quite loudly - during his time at Henry Vilas Zoo. We know his new care team will fall in love with him just as quickly as we did. We are so happy that Buckbeak will be going to a facility that understands his unique situation and has the animal care staff to make his transition as smooth as possible. If you would like to stop by the Zoo to say goodbye to Buckbeak, his habitat is on the east end of the Zoo next to our badger enclosure."
 
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