No idea.
Overlooked and Underrated: The Zoos of Wisconsin
- Thread starter birdsandbats
- Start date
Slight correction here. Racine’s last West Caucasian Tur had passed away last year, and their’s weren’t even the only ones in the U.S. Hemker Park has had a small herd of maybe 5-6 individuals for a couple of years now.
Persephone
Well-Known Member
Agreed on Henry Vilas and Racine.
Henry Vilas is a perfectly fine zoo if you can ignore the behind the scenes drama. I will say that the playground looked really cool, so if you have kids maybe go for it. The badger exhibit was excellent. The polar / grizzly bear area was good. Aviary, reptile house, and primate house were closed when I went so I can’t really comment.
Racine was a mix of decent and bad. The tur exhibit was cool enough, even if it might’ve been better with at least some grass. Shame they lost theirs. Hope they can at least replace it with bighorn sheep or something. I agree that the deer / adjutant aviary was their best exhibit aesthetically with the spectacled bear and kangaroo enclosures lagging behind. And the orangutan exhibit really is dreadful. At the very least they need to move them into one of the adjacent primate’s exhibits that have outdoor portions. At least the Lake Michigan views are absolutely gorgeous.
Henry Vilas is a perfectly fine zoo if you can ignore the behind the scenes drama. I will say that the playground looked really cool, so if you have kids maybe go for it. The badger exhibit was excellent. The polar / grizzly bear area was good. Aviary, reptile house, and primate house were closed when I went so I can’t really comment.
Racine was a mix of decent and bad. The tur exhibit was cool enough, even if it might’ve been better with at least some grass. Shame they lost theirs. Hope they can at least replace it with bighorn sheep or something. I agree that the deer / adjutant aviary was their best exhibit aesthetically with the spectacled bear and kangaroo enclosures lagging behind. And the orangutan exhibit really is dreadful. At the very least they need to move them into one of the adjacent primate’s exhibits that have outdoor portions. At least the Lake Michigan views are absolutely gorgeous.
It doesn't even win best zoo playground in Wisconsin though - that would be Bay Beach's nature center.
The aviary is probably Henry Vilas' third highlight - nothing amazing but the free-flight rainforest room is pretty nice. Perhaps that's my well-planted aviary bias showing through though - I'm a sucker for any exhibit that reminds me of birding, my other hobby besides zoo visiting.
That's also not even unique in Wisconsin zoos. Manitowoc Lincoln Park and Bay Beach also offer Lake Michigan views - though Racine's is probably the best Lake Michigan view of any Wisconsin zoo.
Corangurilla
Well-Known Member
I’ve said before that Henry Vilas Zoo is the kind of zoo I would’ve liked when I was young. It’s got basically all the “basic” animals a typical zoo has (big cats, bears, great apes etc.), but maybe that’s not enough to make it a “must-visit” like other, bigger zoos. I guess I’m ok with it because it’s one of my “home zoos” and it has all the “basics”, plus a relatively rare Aardvark that kid me would’ve flipped out about. It’s like a sack lunch: not the best thing ever, but it’ll satisfy me in a pinch (does that make any sense?).
Sat down and read this today and I'm really really glad I did -- it really inspires me to want to double down on making more trips up to Wisconsin to visit many of these places, including the three bonus zoos that I do wish you'd written up on.
What zoo would you say has the best collection after Milwaukee?
What zoo would you say has the best collection after Milwaukee?
Just remembered about this thread today and came back to finish what I'd missed. I had a vague recollection of you talking about this place before, I had no idea it was so gargantuan! Made all the more crazy by its location; does the Minocqua area receive a lot of tourists? Otherwise it's hard to imagine how they've managed to expand so much in a very unpopulated area.
Yeah, it does. It's a big tourist area due to all of the places for people to boat and stuff. They also have a lot of other shows and things there. My family and I have gone up there a few times.
@Milwaukee Man recently reviewed this zoo, and it sounds like it has improved significantly. I still don't know that I would put it on this list in its current state, but it sounds like it is headed in a similar direction to Wildwood Wildlife Park. Given this zoo's huge area and excellent location in the biggest tourist trap in the Midwest, this zoo has the potential to grow into a mega-zoo similar to Wildlife World Zoo in Arizona. I would not be surprised if it reaches this state in the next decade.
Here's the review in question: The Waterpark Capital's Splash in the Zoo World | Review of Timbavati Wildlife Park [Timbavati Wildlife Park]
Anyone who was interested in visiting this facility should get over here ASAP - they just announced yesterday that they are closing to the public on May 28.Jack R. Facente Serpentarium (MToxins Venom Lab)
Location: Oshkosh
Size: ~0.1 acre (~0.05 hectares)
Approximate Visit Time: 0.5-1 hour
Ownership: Private
Non-AZA
Collection (On-Display Only)
Mammals: 0 species
Birds: 2 species
Herps: 56 species
Arthropods: 0 species
Total: 58 species
Notable rarities: Many species of venomous snakes, including Rinkhals, Jameson's Mamba, Sakishima Habu, ect. Also a variety of venomous inverts including Deathstalker Scorpion and an undescribed centipede species.
Best exhibits: Really the whole facility
Species List: Jack Facente Serpentarium/MToxins Vemom Lab Review + Full Species List [Jack R. Facente Serpentarium]
Gallery: Jack R. Facente Serpentarium - ZooChat
Sitting inconspicuously on an old street corner in Oshkosh is a zoological facility that few know and none expect to find there. Despite the somewhat sketchy-looking exterior, Jack R. Facente Serpentarium (or MToxins Venom Lab, whichever you prefer) is excellent and you won't regret venturing inside.
This one-room zoo is in actuality primarily an operating venom lab, one of only nine in the world (and one of even fewer open to the public), The main room is filled with excellent bioactive terrariums holding a variety of reptiles (mostly venomous snakes) on two side, with a view into the venom lab on another wall. Each of these terrariums is excellent and clearly built with its inhabitant in mind. This really is some of the best reptile exhibitry I've seen, which is nice as reptiles often seem to exist primarily as filler in so many other zoos.
The facility's odd opening hours (only a few hours each day on weekends and Fridays only) are picked specifically for the maximum amount of action during any given visit. The lab will be in operation during these hours, and a variety of animal ambassadors will be out at all times. So yes, you'll get to see snake venom being harvested and get to interact with all sorts of animals (the ambassadors are not just limited to reptiles, there's also a few mammals, birds, and inverts that may come out as well). The owner will also be present during opening hours and it's always nice to chat with him.
Jack R. Facente Serpentarium may well be the most overlooked zoo in the US. One of the largest on-exhibit venomous snake collections in the world is here, and the opportunity to see the venom lab in action is just amazing. This is absolutely a must-see zoo for even those with only a passing interest in reptiles.
Enclosure example (photo by @birdsandbats)
Signage example (photo by @birdsandbats)
Venom lab (photo by @birdsandbats)
Venom extraction in-progress (photo by @birdsandbats)
Monocled Cobra (photo by @birdsandbats)
Anyone who was interested in visiting this facility should get over here ASAP - they just announced yesterday that they are closing to the public on May 28.
They are closing? That is so sad!
Did they mention why?
No mention of the reason why.