They said last weekend that today would be sunny and warm and I scheduled my trip today but it was overcast and still a bit chilly. Still made my first visit to the Racine Zoo today and I was impressed with the facility for its size; it won't surpass any major city zoos but it punches above its weight.
Actual News
- The zoo has a new Amur Tiger, Changba, and some of the tiger viewing areas are closed to allow Changba to adjust to the habitat. I did not see the tiger from multiple checks.
- The Discovery Center remains closed. I had forgotten it even existed and so did not ask about the exhibit. The absence of reptiles is felt though.
- The Cape Porcupines are in the former indoor Amur Tiger exhibit, across from the Black-handed Spider monkeys. I did not see them at all today, but I did see a keeper cleaning the porcupine habitat.
- The lesser adjutant stork is off display for the winter. I'm actually reporting this because the signage is gone and I feared the worst, but an employee assured me the species is still present. I did see the tufted deer on my second trip by the aviary.
- This was off the cuff and not authoritative, but I did ask an employee who seemed knowledgeable what the intentions for the former West Caucasian tur exhibit were, and they suggested the zoo would like to get more. I recognize this is unlikely but it did make me curious. I wanted to follow up but I had to make my train.
Additional Observations
- Jenny the orangutan was extremely active throughout my visit and spent much of it off the ground, swinging around her enclosure and clearly interested in visitors. The other orangutan slept pretty much the whole time. I've seen orangutans at six facilities now and this was the most active and arboreal I've seen one to date.
- No shows for zebra, rhinoceros or fennec.... or penguin, or meerkat... I'm not sure how many of these animals were off for winter and who was simply staying indoors for the day. A sign mentioned male rhino Kianga has not ventured out often post-pandemic. The masai giraffe and lion were outside though.
- The two Arctic fox are in an exhibit visible from the indoor viewing area for the former Andean bear habitat. Someone suggested this may have used to hold a bird and I would believe it - there was a lot of vertical space. I also saw the bear play and education area which seemed good for kids.
- The cockatoo window is so fogged up that I had no idea there was an animal in there, even though it was by the glass, and mistook it for a painting for a minute.
- They have a mess of emperor tamarin and even though the glass was a bit foggy they were still a load of fun to watch! Denver's tamarin had more space but I only recall seeing one.
I did not visit Raptor Roost as I lost my map early on and had no idea to look for it. I intend to revisit in the summer and will check it out then. May write a review now or wait until then.
