Milwaukee County Zoo Milwaukee County Zoo News 2022

Forgive me, I've not had the pleasure to visit Milwaukee in seven years now -- did the mandrill leave or simply be rotated to another exhibit?

The zoo was left with one female, Princess, after her mates death last year. She disappeared about two months ago. The plan was to move her to Disney's Animal Kingdom, but not sure if this was actually carried out.
 
Thank you for further clarifying. I should have remembered this. I completely forgot they used to have grizzlies and Alaskan brown until you mentioned it! Crazy to think we're down to just one species now. I feel like I really failed to appreciate the diversity of Milwaukee's bear collection until after my last visit.


I misunderstood you -- I thought you were suggesting there were species that would fit the current, existing bear habitats before the renovations take place.

A new North America area with some combination of bears, caribou, moose, elk, wolves, seals, sea lions or otters would be a good addition to the zoo. They have plenty of room to accomplish something along those lines and I hope they stay ambitious and really aim for a world-class area. I'd love to see something that surpasses Great Bear Wilderness.

That's all after Adventure Africa Ph3, right?


Forgive me, I've not had the pleasure to visit Milwaukee in seven years now -- did the mandrill leave or simply be rotated to another exhibit? Ditto for the Cotton-tops. I know they've built some outdoor exhibit and moved things around but no primates have left in the last decade or two have they?
Cotton-tops moved in with the goeldi's monkeys i belive
 
The zoo seems to be doing a lot of construction but nothing really announced for it either which makes it interesting, also some updates/observations.

* There's been a path cleared near the African Savannah heading towards the outdoor ape enclosures.
* Though the apes have been going outside, the outdoor deck has been closed all summer.
* 2 male siamang apes are moving in.
* Former mandrill exhibit is dark, but also getting a renovation.
* There's been a lot of work going on underneath the big cat building, not sure exactly it going on there.
* The Scimitar Oryx have finally moved down into the former red river hog indoor enclosure.
* There is new fencing being put in, in the bactrian camel exhibit, not sure what that is about either.
* Prairie dogs have a renovated exhibit, now only waiting for the prairie dogs.
* Appears that there are several areas of the zoo where you can experience cranes now; African Savannah, Impala Plains, and African Forest
* The one river hog that was trying to be placed in the African Forest area, appears to no longer be happening, signage has been removed.
* The zoo only has two caribou now

That's about it, I think. I added some photos to the milwaukee zoo album.


Now that the zoo is in its off season, I am curious on what's going to be happening. Just a few predictions.

* This winter they are going to start on the last phase of the Adventure Africa.
* Possible start for redoing the front entrance to the zoo and maybe even the penguin exhibit.
* More animals will be transferred, both coming and going. Though more of the empty exhibits will be filled.
* Possibly we will be hippo less for awhile during the construction phase
* Yaks will go back to Lake Geneva Safari Park
* Possibly receive a male lion, male snow leopard, female jaguar
* Make adjustments in order to restart tiger breeding
* Prairie dogs will come
* Milk frogs will make their return
 
The zoo seems to be doing a lot of construction but nothing really announced for it either which makes it interesting, also some updates/observations.

* There's been a path cleared near the African Savannah heading towards the outdoor ape enclosures.
* Though the apes have been going outside, the outdoor deck has been closed all summer.
* 2 male siamang apes are moving in.
* Former mandrill exhibit is dark, but also getting a renovation.
* There's been a lot of work going on underneath the big cat building, not sure exactly it going on there.
* The Scimitar Oryx have finally moved down into the former red river hog indoor enclosure.
* There is new fencing being put in, in the bactrian camel exhibit, not sure what that is about either.
* Prairie dogs have a renovated exhibit, now only waiting for the prairie dogs.
* Appears that there are several areas of the zoo where you can experience cranes now; African Savannah, Impala Plains, and African Forest
* The one river hog that was trying to be placed in the African Forest area, appears to no longer be happening, signage has been removed.
* The zoo only has two caribou now

That's about it, I think. I added some photos to the milwaukee zoo album.


Now that the zoo is in its off season, I am curious on what's going to be happening. Just a few predictions.

* This winter they are going to start on the last phase of the Adventure Africa.
* Possible start for redoing the front entrance to the zoo and maybe even the penguin exhibit.
* More animals will be transferred, both coming and going. Though more of the empty exhibits will be filled.
* Possibly we will be hippo less for awhile during the construction phase
* Yaks will go back to Lake Geneva Safari Park
* Possibly receive a male lion, male snow leopard, female jaguar
* Make adjustments in order to restart tiger breeding
* Prairie dogs will come
* Milk frogs will make their return
What Crane species? I would love to know what will go in the former mandrill exhibit.
 
As far I remember, (forgot to take photos in order to remember) it was black crown, and grey crown cranes
Yes, the black crowned cranes live in the savannah yard, grey crowned cranes live in Impala Plains and African Forest.
* There is new fencing being put in, in the bactrian camel exhibit, not sure what that is about either.
Now that the zoo is in its off season, I am curious on what's going to be happening. Just a few predictions.
* This winter they are going to start on the last phase of the Adventure Africa.

The fencing in the camel exhibit is temporary while the doors to their indoor barn are being replaced.
Also, I wouldn't count on Adventure Africa construction starting until at least next spring. A zoo newsletter from this month mentioned how they still need to raise $800,000 for the exhibit, and there isn't an official exhibit design yet. It may be a while before Adventure Africa is fully completed.
 
9/24/2022 Updates
  • Malayan Chevrotain are 100% gone from the aviary. Two of their boxes are missing, and the signs are gone. (I know we've talked about this before, it's just very sad. I don't know why the zoo would get rid of them.)
  • The Aviary building is AMAZING. I had so much fun sitting in there with all the birds. I feel like it is an underrated part of the zoo.
  • The former Milk Frog exhibit is still being worked on. It looks like they may just be waiting for the plants to grow in. I will upload a photo of it soon.
  • Zachary Ann the Siamang was the only one that I saw on exhibit. I saw @MKE Zoo guy mention that two male Siamnags are being added. Where did you find out about this? Did they mention if Zachary Ann will be staying, or if she will be moving? (It would be sad to see her go. She and I always hang out when I visit. She loves to look at pictures on my phone.)
  • It appears that only one Goeldi's Monkey and one Cotton-Top Tamarin live in that huge indoor enclosure. The others were still in the Small Mammal Building. The Goeldi's Monkey and the Cotton-Top stick together, too. I wonder if it was a trial run to see if the two species could live together?
  • Ring-Tailed Lemurs now have access to 6 different indoor areas.
  • The Prairie Dog exhibit looks fantastic. All of the grass is finally grown in. I feel like it looks bigger than it used to...
 
9/24/2022 Updates
  • Malayan Chevrotain are 100% gone from the aviary. Two of their boxes are missing, and the signs are gone. (I know we've talked about this before, it's just very sad. I don't know why the zoo would get rid of them.)
  • The Aviary building is AMAZING. I had so much fun sitting in there with all the birds. I feel like it is an underrated part of the zoo.
  • The former Milk Frog exhibit is still being worked on. It looks like they may just be waiting for the plants to grow in. I will upload a photo of it soon.
  • Zachary Ann the Siamang was the only one that I saw on exhibit. I saw @MKE Zoo guy mention that two male Siamnags are being added. Where did you find out about this? Did they mention if Zachary Ann will be staying, or if she will be moving? (It would be sad to see her go. She and I always hang out when I visit. She loves to look at pictures on my phone.)
  • It appears that only one Goeldi's Monkey and one Cotton-Top Tamarin live in that huge indoor enclosure. The others were still in the Small Mammal Building. The Goeldi's Monkey and the Cotton-Top stick together, too. I wonder if it was a trial run to see if the two species could live together?
  • Ring-Tailed Lemurs now have access to 6 different indoor areas.
  • The Prairie Dog exhibit looks fantastic. All of the grass is finally grown in. I feel like it looks bigger than it used to...
The aviary is without a doubt the best part of the zoo.
 
The aviary is without a doubt the best part of the zoo.
And after two visits, it’s still the one part of the zoo I’ve never been to… shame about the Chevrotains, too…
It's hard to call it the best when the bonobos are there! It's a strong #2.
Weird way to spell “hippos”. The bonobos may be a blast to watch, but that chainlink habitrail the zoo claims is an “outdoor exhibit” doesn’t do them any favors.
And yes, I think Milwaukee’s hippo exhibit isn’t as bad as people say it is. I thought it was going to be awful based on initial reactions to it, but it was pretty decent when I visited it in-person. It doesn’t overdo it with the underwater viewing, there’s actual substrate on the land portion, and it doesn’t overcrowd in the name of clout (cough Cincinnati cough). But maybe I liked it so much because it had been a while since I had seen any hippos and Happy was incredibly active when I visited.
 
With the Bonobo's outdoor exhibit, the aviary is clearly better.

Also, I'm not a huge great ape fan.

This is a valid point, haha. Hopefully the outdoor areas change within the next few years! I only saw four on my last visit. I would love to be able to see multiple groups out at once.

@EsserWarrior the information was posted in the zoo hospital on the dry erase board stating animals in quarantine.

You can visit the zoo's hospital? I didn't know that!

And yes, I think Milwaukee’s hippo exhibit isn’t as bad as people say it is. I thought it was going to be awful based on initial reactions to it, but it was pretty decent when I visited it in-person. It doesn’t overdo it with the underwater viewing, there’s actual substrate on the land portion, and it doesn’t overcrowd in the name of clout (cough Cincinnati cough). But maybe I liked it so much because it had been a while since I had seen any hippos and Happy was incredibly active when I visited.

I agree. I don't think that this is going to be an exhibit that should have a whole group of hippos in it, but I think it functions extremely well as a holding facility.
 
@EsserWarrior yeah while it’s warm out you can visit the special area of the hospital, it overlooks two operating rooms and kinda has a special exhibit space too. Check it out before they close it for the winter.
 
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