Milwaukee County Zoo Milwaukee County Zoo news 2018

 
Start the count down! Next month the elephants are moving. According to the keepers the elelphants will be moving into their new home next month. They will be put into crates and driven over to their new home. Still not sure if everyone is moving in October or will they move over winter. I’m assuming they’ll move before winter.

On a similar note rereading over the zoological societies campaign I feel like we may actually get the new hoof stock. With the talk of African crown cranes completed early this summer, I feel like they may of reached their goal and soon will be announcing the new hoof stock for adventure Africa.

I’m still wondering what they are going to be doing with the area where the zebras currently reside. Once the zebras leave is it just going to be the waterbuck, great kudu (female), and the stork. Anyone heard if anything is going there once the zebras leave?
 
I like to think of myself as an optimistic person, but id be hard pressed to say that the elephants will be moving within the next month.

That's not to say the yard and exhibit area as a whole isn't coming along well, quite the contrary. Still, much more work still needs to be done and I would assume they wouldn't want to move the animals until the entire exhibit space has been completed in full. However, what they have accomplished as of yet has been very good. The pool is essentially complete, the feeder walls are up, shade structures have been done, and barn as a whole - including a very sleek, impressive second level - has come along really well. Fencing, landscaping, bits and pieces of the demo yard(s) still need to be done and while its possible to be complete within the month, I wouldn't exactly call it likely.

The "Impala Plains", impala, zebra and African crowed crane habitat, is a different story. This is the first time during the entire construction of Adventure Africa where I have seen any progress on this yard, and yet, it almost seems finished already. With that said I will say that from the looks of it, while it is far better aesthetically and functionally than the current yards, its surprisingly small. It looks to be equivalent to or perhaps even a bit smaller than the current spaces. Nice looking, but I expected something slightly larger. The African Forest, bongo and yellow-backed duiker yard, is likely already done and has been for sometime. Really no need to do much as the former kangaroo yard is already heavily forested and spacious.

No new info on future birds or what will take place of dall sheep mountain.

Other updates...

Red panda cub is very, very cute.

Malayan tapir, Maggie, has died. The exhibit is closed and signage has been removed,

Former black bear exhibit is empty once more, but will likely have a new species take residence early next year.

Didn't make it down to primates or the otters so no updates there.

Photos of construction and the red panda cub are in the gallery.

EDIT: Also worth mentioning, the old restaurant by the polar bear and seals is reopening October 1st, with a redesigned interior and a new name, "414 Nutrition".
 
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pachyderm pro said:
I like to think of myself as an optimistic person, but id be hard pressed to say that the elephants will be moving within the next month.

That's not to say the yard and exhibit area as a whole isn't coming along well, quite the contrary. Still, much more work still needs to be done and I would assume they wouldn't want to move the animals until the entire exhibit space has been completed in full. However, what they have accomplished as of yet has been very good. The pool is essentially complete, the feeder walls are up, shade structures have been done, and barn as a whole - including a very sleek, impressive second level - has come along really well. Fencing, landscaping, bits and pieces of the demo yard(s) still need to be done and while its possible to be complete within the month, I wouldn't exactly call it likely.

The "Impala Plains", impala, zebra and African crowed crane habitat, is a different story. This is the first time during the entire construction of Adventure Africa where I have seen any progress on this yard, and yet, it almost seems finished already. With that said I will say that from the looks of it, while it is far better aesthetically and functionally than the current yards, its surprisingly small. It looks to be equivalent to or perhaps even a bit smaller than the current spaces. Nice looking, but I expected something slightly larger. The African Forest, bongo and yellow-backed duiker yard, is likely already done and has been for sometime. Really no need to do much as the former kangaroo yard is already heavily forested and spacious.

No new info on future birds or what will take place of dall sheep mountain.

Other updates...

Red panda cub is very, very cute.

Malayan tapir, Maggie, has died. The exhibit is closed and signage has been removed,

Former black bear exhibit is empty once more, but will likely have a new species take residence early next year.

Didn't make it down to primates or the otters so no updates there.

Photos of construction and the red panda cub are in the gallery.

EDIT: Also worth mentioning, the old restaurant by the polar bear and seals is reopening October 1st, with a redesigned interior and a new name, "414 Nutrition".
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I would agree that it seems like there is a lot left to do before the elephants move, however I’m wondering if they are going to be moving them into the barn and not having access to the yard just yet. I’ve heard from mulitiple sources that they do plan on moving them October (probably closer to the end of the month) but then allow the elephants to used to the barn before being let out in the yard. It seems that they were already planning for the exhibit not to be finished by the time they move the elephants.

Switching to primates it appears that 2019 will be the year of finishing projects. The Colobus won’t be getting access to outside until next spring. They mentioned that there was several inspections that needed to happen before they open it. This seems like a flimsy excuse on why the exhibit isn’t open yet but then again the zoo isn’t one that gives truthful answers (cough red panda baby) unless they want to.

Overall, I’m kinda excited for the low season at the zoo cause I’m predicting a lot of work is going to be going on and possibly new animals moving in.
 
From the newest issue of ALIVE magazine (for members), it has been officially reconfirmed that the elephants are moving within the next month. They will likely only have access to the barn for the time being, which is fine because it's not like they could use the main yard much anyway in the Wisconsin winter season.
 
Does anyone know if the cheetahs we have are on list of cheetahs not to breed? Been wondering that for awhile, was originally told by an ambassador that we are a holding zoo but with all the news around the cheetah population being so low, was curious if they would be on the list to breed in the future.
 
MKE Zoo guy said:
Does anyone know if the cheetahs we have are on list of cheetahs not to breed? Been wondering that for awhile, was originally told by an ambassador that we are a holding zoo but with all the news around the cheetah population being so low, was curious if they would be on the list to breed in the future.
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Kira and Imara are both 13 or 14 (wow four years since they arrived went fast!), so I doubt they’d be on the breeding list. Never say never though as Tomiris the snow leopard gave birth to Sossy (the first and only cub she had) at age 14.
 
MKE Zoo guy said:
Does anyone know if the cheetahs we have are on list of cheetahs not to breed? Been wondering that for awhile, was originally told by an ambassador that we are a holding zoo but with all the news around the cheetah population being so low, was curious if they would be on the list to breed in the future.
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They are not recommended to breed.
 
Milwaukee Man said:
Kira and Imara are both 13 or 14 (wow four years since they arrived went fast!), so I doubt they’d be on the breeding list. Never say never though as Tomiris the snow leopard gave birth to Sossy (the first and only cub she had) at age 14.
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Kira is 14 (born at the National Zoo) and Imara is yet a wee 13 (born at Winston Safari) and both from breeding lines that are well represented (elsewhere).
 
It’s interesting reading some of documents for the upcoming 2019 budget for the county, specifically the zoo’s new hippo exhibit. The exhibit looks to be $13.5 million, and it looks to be approved. However the last line I find interesting. It states, “This phase of the project shall not proceed until the Zoological funding (including any private contributions) is committed and verified and all necessary agreements have been executed.” So is the funding still not secured?
 
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