I visited this zoo for the second time today. The last time I visited was in July 2018, so I will include some details to compare the two visits all in one review.
Welcome Center: Right next to the parking lot there is a large and long exhibit that basically looks like a fence was built along a stream and small pond, and two bridges over the stream were built. There are several ducks and other various waterfowl and some aquatic life including frogs and turtles in the pond. Unfortunately the Welcome Center was closed due to COVID-19.
*From the very limited memory I have of the building from my 2018 visit, there are no animals in the building. It was mostly old pictures and facts about the city's and the park's history.
Small Animal & Aviary Building: This exhibit is an all-outdoor stretch of exhibits that were completely rebuilt in 2016. The exhibits are very basic, but not the worst I've seen. They're decently sized for an admission-free, small town zoo like this one. The front half of the exhibits is all concrete, the back half is covered in woodchips and hay. One of the best features of these otherwise would-be low quality exhibits, is the animals's climbing opportunities and enrichment. There are plenty of toys in the exhibits for the animals to play with and way more branches and ramps than I expected for exhibits typical in zoos this size. The animals in the exhibits were the following; A troop of Ring-tailed Lemurs, an exhibit that was empty, a Male Coatimundi, Black-capped Capuchin monkeys, another Coatimundi (perhaps they are separated and being introduced as a new pair), Patagonian Mara, and North American Porcupine. The next section is 4 very tall aviaries that I was once again pleasantly surprised by due to the numerous perches at all levels of the exhibit. However, 2 of the aviaries were empty, leaving only a Great Horned Owl, and a Barred Owl.
Petting Zoo: Unfortunately the petting zoo was also closed.
*From what I remember of my 2018 visit, the petting zoo is average. A barn with a few farm animal stalls and a few little outdoor pens, and a medium-sized outdoor yard.
Carnivores: Next up are three very similar exhibits that hold Spotted Hyenas, a white Bengal Tiger (possibly an orange one inside), and an American Black Bear. The exhibit's design confuses me. Rather than having large viewing windows, they have several small glass viewing windows each anywhere from about 8 ft-15 ft apart. Most of the exhibits are concrete floors mimicking a cave/mountain area. There are a couple of little patches of dirt and grass in the hyenas and tiger, and the bear exhibit has a nice waterfall and small pool for the bear. The exhibits have some shade, but it definitely wouldn't hurt to have more shaded area. The back wall of the exhibits have rock walls that the animals can climb, but the walls of the exhibit that aren't covered in rock are just cinder blocks painted blue. Overall the exhibits are fine I suppose, but some of the design choices made make no sense to me.
Paddock Animals: This is both the best and the worst part of the zoo at the same time. There are several HUGE exhibits that look like all that went into building the exhibits was putting up a fence and building a barn. That being said, these exhibits are the most natural-looking in the zoo; each having tons of trees, tall grass, and hills. There is no sidewalk along these paddocks, just a dirt path going along the road (the zoo can also be seen as a drive-thru, which could be better for the paddocks due to their huge size, the dirt path for those who walk, and the fact that most of this section of the zoo is uphill. Another downside to the paddocks, they don't look very well maintained. I understand that such huge and hilly exhibits are hard to maintain but the grass and weeds are so tall, and the exhibits are so large, that you could very easily miss the animals depending on where they are in the exhibit. Which brings me to my final point- most of the 5-6 paddocks were empty on my recent visit. Only Bison and Elk have signage, and I only saw the bison herd.
*During my 2018 visit, there were paddocks for zebras, an ostrich, and Watusi cattle (the only place I've ever heard of or seen these) so this visit fell flat. Overall, a lot of the zoo felt emptier than it was in 2018 with a lot more empty exhibits.
Overall: The zoo has some pleasant surprises such as climbing opportunities and enrichment, but a lot of the design choices are not what one would expect from exhibits built all within the last 15 years (excluding the paddocks, I'm not sure when those were built). The exhiits are decently sized for the amount of animals they hold. I've been to 5 small town zoos in Wisconsin (Manitowoc Lincoln Park, Bruemmer Park, Ochsner Park, Timbavati Wildlife Park in the Dells, and Irvine Park) and out of those six, Irvine Park is probably the second or third best; behind Lincoln Park and maybe Ochsner Park. Like I said, the zoo felt emptier than it was in 2018, and unfortunately I did not bring my camera for pictures, so I will have to visit again in the future to share some updated pictures in the zoo gallery.
