Racine Zoo Racine Zoo Review

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It was a wonderful surprise to find out there was a small, twenty-eight acre somewhat obscure zoo located between my hometown of Chicago and Milwaukee, a city which I was very familiar with from childhood. After an earlier aborted attempt to visit, I finally made a visit to the Racine Zoo on Thursday October 19, 2023, though during off-season and at the time of the zoo’s annual Halloween Jack O’ Lantern walkthrough season. I also made a subsequent visit on May 24, 2024, which allowed me to revisit much of the facility and see two exhibits missed on the previous visit.

All images are my own unless otherwise stated. Direct links provided in case they do not display in the post correctly. I have split the review into two to accommodate the number of images.

Although the facility is a small one, I still find it useful to go exhibit by exhibit.

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Entrance and Zootique
The entrance to the facility is on a street corner overlooking Lake Michigan directly, and is where two of the main buildings are located. The entrance building is also the zoo’s main gift shop, also known as the Zootique. An admissions window faces outward from the register counter. The employee working was friendly and knowledgeable about the facility and happy to answer questions, and the shop itself is fairly well-stocked with a wide variety of merchandise. In addition, a small indoor habitat in the corner of the shop holds different animals depending on the season. While the small exhibit is not immersive, it does have natural substrate, windows and vertical space.

There is a small indoor habitat in the corner that sometimes holds a tortoise and sometimes holds a western screech owl, depending on the season. On my visit in October, the owl was indoors. Outside of the building there is a small lawn that has sometimes been used as an outside enclosure for the tortoise, and also includes a small aviary for the owl.

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Discovery Center
One of the zoo’s core buildings and directly next to the entrance, the Discovery Center houses the zoo’s reptile, amphibian and fish collection, as well as a bird and a mammal. It was closed for unspecified renovations during my October visit, but re-opened quietly sometime by my subsequent visit in May. The door’s a bit easy to miss and it’s a little cramped. In terms of species, the building feels a bit like a grab bag of odds and ends, to be honest, without any hint of theme. It’s a bit like a nocturnal house with terrariums and enclosures in the walls surrounding you.

The Umbrella Cockatoo exhibit is two-sided, so guests can view it outside the zoo through a window facing the outside sidewalk; at night, it is hidden by a garage door-like cover. The cockatoo seemed to be an active individual who enjoyed people. The exhibit is tall and has no substrate but a decent amount of climbing equipment with enough room for the cockatoo to spread its wings a little, and probably some very limited flight. It is by no means a naturalistic aviary as you might find at a typical zoo, and could therefore easily be improved, but not bottom of the barrel.

A lot of the reptile terrariums are about all right, a step above a pet store but certainly not impressive next to a modern reptile house. A green tree python exhibit is tall and furnished with branches and a plated lizard has a sandy home. There is decent signage which includes animals’ favorite foods, home range, habitat, and fun facts - some of these convey a little personality for the individual animal. The cichlid tank is one of the highlights, bright and green with colorful fish. A nocturnal exhibit with straw-colored fruit bats are present but the visibility isn’t great, though the bats have room to fly and places to perch.

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Vanishing Kingdom
The zoo’s other core animal building is Vanishing Kingdom, also located near the entrance, which is an architecturally fascinating multi-level historical building with some unique castle-like features, including a turret, that has contained a variety of animal species over the years. The current version favors primates a little. There are two exterior enclosures, while the interior of this exhibit involves going up a few stairs on each side, reaching a long hallway with around five enclosures on each side of varying size.

One of the first exhibits I saw was a smaller exhibit for Yellow-crowned Amazon with branches, a ladder and a visible cage. I always like when individual bird species are highlighted, but the bird was mostly inactive. Like a lot of the exhibits at this facility, the animal had access to a lot of toys and enrichment, which is a plus for the lack of naturalism.

There were two small exhibits on opposite ends of the hall for Bearded Emperor tamarins and while the habitats themselves were small and the windows a little foggy, the family of tamarins almost always seem extremely active and still prove wonderful to watch. The habitat was dense with the number of climbing structures, allowing the tamarins plenty of room to climb and explore. I had seen a single individual before this in a slightly better exhibit, but the active family was a more fun viewing experience. Signage also boasted the zoo’s prolific breeding program for these cute little critters. It’s great that even a smaller zoo like Racine can power a breeding program and help other, larger facilities in the process.

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There were two unremarkable, small side-by-side exhibits for Fossa, with a single active individual who had access to both spaces at any time. This was my first time seeing this species, which did make it exciting, and fake trees and branches offered lots of room to climb, supplanted by a few boards of wood. However, this exhibit had no substrate and the animal largely stayed on the ground, and seemed to sometimes like staring out at me.

Two similar moderately-sized (relative to the other habitats in the building) exhibits held Black-Handed Spider Monkey and White-Handed Gibbon respectively. Both used murals (one more forest-inspired, one more treetop-inspired) alongside artificial trees and lots of rope to provide the animals lots of climbing space and enrichment. The spider monkeys often illustrated their use of their prehensile tails, more so than I have seen at nearby Milwaukee. The animals were, again, very arboreal, which made them very fun to watch in terms of activity. The indoor habitats are smaller than is typical or preferred for these species, but the great news is these two primate species have access to larger outdoor enclosures during the warmer months.

The largest indoor habitat was for Orangutan, and setting aside the critical lack of outdoor access for just a moment, it was a surprisingly effective indoor habitat and better than four of the five indoor orangutan habitats I had seen at the time. While by no means large enough to be ideal for orangutans, it was still larger than I thought it was from the galleries here, with the floor deeper and the glass curved outward into the building. Jenny the orangutan was especially active and very arboreal, and seemed to enjoy coming up to the glass where she could see visitors clearly, while frequently swinging around her habitat. The other orangutan Max stayed back and was harder to see. The floor of the exhibit had some limited substrate and on my visit there were a few drums. This was one of my best experiences viewing this species at the time and proved one of the most memorable aspects of the trip.

Now to actually address the elephant in the room: it is obviously no longer acceptable to keep great apes indoors, and getting the orangutans outdoor access should be a top priority for any future renovation plans; however, the existing indoor habitat would be an above average dayroom if outdoor access could be provided at the current space. As orangutan and gibbon can be mixed, it could be very fruitful to build a larger outdoor enclosure for both species and expand the indoor orangutan exhibit into the current gibbon space to accommodate the mix as well.

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There were two larger habitats opposite the primates, on each side of the fossa, one of which appeared to be an indoor den for lions, and the other which held Cape Porcupine. These exhibits have also been used in the past for Arctic fox, Coati and Amur tiger, from my understanding. They were both rather barren, intending to represent a desert/savanna rather than a rainforest. The porcupine exhibit was being cleaned at the time of my first visit and the lion exhibit was not in use, which may have affected my perception. I did briefly see porcupine in the exhibit on my subsequent visit.

All of these exhibits, save the orangutan habitat, are boxy and use murals to suggest a natural environment, and therefore lack naturalism and are not as visually or aesthetically impressive, but the zoo does provide the animals an impressively high level of enrichment for a smaller facility.

West of the building is a path with two outdoor primate enclosures that are decent in size, larger than I have seen at some mid-level major facilities, which contain lots of ropes to swing from and many plastic toys, as well as grass, rock and natural substrate, allowing varied heights and textures, overall providing a somewhat impressive level of enrichment. These exhibits provide outdoor access for the zoo’s White-Handed Lar Gibbons and Black-Handed Spider Monkeys. While they are not particularly impressive compared to world class zoos, they seem effective enough for a small zoo to endear comparison to nearby larger facilities -- Brookfield did not offer outdoor enclosures for gibbons or spider monkeys (at the time of this visit) though with ample space and enrichment indoors, and Milwaukee’s outdoor enclosures for these animals are less furnished. The zoo staff sometimes use plastic children’s toys for the animals, which can be a little charming but also takes away from the naturalism; at the same time, the exhibits are hardly naturalistic to start.

Former residents of the above building also include Prehensile-tailed porcupine and blue-eyed black lemur.

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Great Cat Canyon
The zoo’s big cat complex, known as Great Cat Canyon, is located east of the Vanishing Kingdom building and connects to it. Tall concrete “canyon walls” surround two of the three habitats, containing small pools, branches, and wooden climbing structures with a lot of grass. Both of these larger habitats have two viewing areas at two different levels - a window here and two windows with covered tops and benches there, allowing comfortable viewing and making nose-to-nose encounters with the cats possible. The central exhibit between the two canyons is mesh-covered and looks more like a rocky grotto, with the bare walls of the holding building much more clearly visible behind it, and is clearly a bit small for a big cat.

The two larger “canyon” exhibits currently hold two female African lions in one and an Amur tiger in the other, while the smaller exhibit now holds a Canada lynx, but once held a Snow leopard. The exhibit has a successful mountainous feeling and despite the unattractive nature of the bare back wall, even compared to rockwork, it feels a good fit for the species. The varied, steep terrain is a great fit for the smaller, secretive species, and while it would be too small for a snow leopard it feels acceptable for a lynx.

The two larger enclosures are far from impressive. I felt the canyon design provided some novelty compared to traditional historic grottos, and while I know many find all forms of artificial rockwork unsightly and ugly, but I find it preferable to the bare walls on the lynx exhibit. The windows do allow for some close-up viewing and I really appreciated that it was multi-level allowing multiple options - this was useful on my second visit for spotting the tiger, who was using a hiding space. The enclosures are still too small for their inhabitants though and all three are very light on vegetation besides grass. The lions could have used some more varied terrain or enrichment.

This is an area in need of renovation but that I think would also benefit a lot from a robust master plan, as there's only room to favor one species at this location, so perhaps creating a more naturalistic exhibit for one of the big cats elsewhere will enable the remaining big cat enclosure to be improved and larger in this location.

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Stork Aviary
The most famous exhibit at the zoo is an impressive aviary that holds a Tufted Deer and, until recently, held Lesser Adjutant Storks. The exhibit can be viewed through from the outside, but guests may enter the aviary and view from a small boardwalk inside the habitat, which is met on one side by a large pond and on another by a small greenhouse-looking indoor holding space. The entire area is quite marshy and even in the fall weather, it felt quite lush -- the resident tufted deer could easily disappear and reappear from the foliage and proved surprisingly challenging to spot. This was my first time seeing the species and I found them much more charismatic than I expected - the little fangs are very neat.

At the time of my visit, on a warmer day in fall, signage for the stork had been removed, and the indoor holding door was open. I asked an employee later if the zoo had gone out of the species, but was told they were simply off-display for the winter already. Sadly, it turned out the last stork was sent away within days of my visit after all. Per the gallery it appears it was once common for the stork to perch on top of the entrance above guests, which seems thrilling. This exhibit also long ago held pelicans, before the storks arrived. For now, it is only home to a single tufted deer, with the pond near the boardwalk empty. I hope a new species of water bird joins the facility, as it is tragic to have such an excellent exhibit nearly empty.

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Goat/Tur Mountain
Just outside near the aviary is a moderately-sized rockwork exhibit that once held the last West Caucasian Tur in an AZA facility. It must be said that this exhibit is not impressive in naturalism, instead consisting entirely of concrete rockwork, but I imagine it provided guests an excellent view of its inhabitants and the varied terrain would certainly encourage any caprid to showcase some of their natural abilities. Adding some grass and substrate at the bottom layer would be a welcome improvement to the space though and allow the animals to both take advantage of the verticality and varied terrain while also allowing them soft ground for relaxing. Some trees would also be nice.

I know some would probably prefer to see this old exhibit bulldozed, but given how many zoos seem to be dismantling caprid exhibits and phasing them out, and that there are better use of funds at this facility (letting orangutans outside) I would personally hope to see Racine improve the space and receive another caprid species for this habitat - such as takin, markhor, ibex or more tur. For my visit instead, it was covered in pumpkins to promote the Halloween festivities, which is not comparable to an animal exhibir, but at least ensured it wasn’t a wasted, empty space.

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Penguin Pals and Meerkat Manor

The next two habitats are both smaller but share similar, round footprints, shaped somewhat like a half-circle with a metal railing and animals a few feet down, with tall, rockwork backing areas, allowing the guests lots of visibility to appreciate some smaller species.

Penguin Pals is home to the zoo’s colony of African penguins, but lacks any sense of naturalism. The water area is highlighted in bright blue, giving it a glow that feels artificial, making up around half to two-thirds of the visible space, while the rest is rockwork and gravel, sometimes adorned with mats, and tall rockwork to separate the indoor facilities. I did not have the pleasure to see the penguins themselves until my second visit, where they mostly stood in place. A small window allows visitors to see a small indoor area for the penguins, but it feels almost unnecessary given the lack of theming or space. While the use of rock and gravel is not unlike many other penguin habitats, the highlighted water detracts strongly. Credits for distinctiveness, I suppose. This exhibit also once held cormorants.

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On the other hand, Meerkat Manor is a small exhibit that resembles the animals’ native habitats in arid parts of Africa. A large termite mound (or rock formation in a similar shape) helps paint the landscape while a log offers the animals somewhere to hide or cool off. It is multi-level as well, which is very good. No meerkat were visible on either visit and I’ve heard since then that the zoo currently has none. It’s serviceable for the species overall though; I have seen them in smaller and less naturalistic exhibits in the past and not often outdoors.

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[JVM]

Bear Ridge
This exhibit was empty during my first visit and no animals were outside during my second. However, the grassy hills are already superior to the concrete grottos that were still ubiquitous in several major facilities fifteen years ago. An artificial tree to climb and a small rockwork area break up the hills and add some enrichment, though natural trees tend to line the outside of the enclosure rather than within. The exhibit has been used to hold tropical bear species in recent years as well which live in a more forested environment. Still there are multiple viewing angles largely through glass. A statue of an Andean Bear sits outside.

One of those viewing areas is inside the recently renovated Bear Overlook building, which offers a view through glass past a lower chainlink fence, with gentle tree patterns painted into the wall, nature sounds playing, signage about bears and a few toys as part of the Becoming Bear interpretive display, encouraging kids pretend to be a bear and understand how they live in the wild. It was hard to gauge how successful this was (I was the only one in the building) but I appreciated the added intention to educate guests. Another exhibit off the overlook is very, very vertical and held two Arctic fox, one of whom gently scooted away from the glass when I approached. With so much vertical space, it felt like an exhibit built for birds that was retrofitted for foxes. There is again, multi-level viewing, ground level outdoors. There is an outdoor viewing space for the bears as well, one of which looks into a cave, which is on a missable path that includes the below Raptor Roost.

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Raptor Roost
A section of woods near Bear Ridge acts as a visual separation from Raptor Roost, focused on birds of prey - it’s so successful I actually missed this area on my first visit. This section includes a spacious outdoor aviary for Bald Eagle and a few small, disappointing spaces for additional birds of prey, containing Great Horned Owl and Red-Tailed Hawk. These feel pretty standard, small-zoo, with enough room for a handler to come in and clean but not much to them.

The Bald Eagle aviary, however, is one of the zoo’s newest structures (built in 2022) and impressive. It is very lush and green, with more than enough space for the eagle to fly if it chooses, although the one I saw simply perched in the habitat’s main tree. I would actually consider it one of the better eagle habitats I’ve seen, even compared to some larger AZA facilities, and it may be the zoo’s greatest exhibit in terms of quality for the inhabitant. If the zoo maintains this level of quality for future exhibits, it has a much brighter future than the older exhibits might imply.

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Between this core area and the Savanna complex is a larger area that is absent captive animals but includes a large playground for children, a train station, and a large pond for native wildlife. No such wildlife was visible on the fall day I visited. This was all still pleasant though and probably great for visitors with families. There is also a ‘Watering Hole’ eatery here, also closed for the season.

Land of the Giants
This Africa-focused section will not likely rival any Africa complex at even a smaller major zoo but was more impressive than I expected for a facility of this scale. There are four total habitats, three of larger size, with a visible green holding barn between the middle two enclosures.

The largest habitat is a large grassy enclosure with lots of shade structures and a few trees for a pair of Masai Giraffe. In the background, trees and foliage obscure much of the zoo’s perimeter fence, some just beyond the cable fences for the giraffes, but nonetheless one can see houses and the neighborhood nearby, which would be an eyesore to zoochatters and undermines the exhibit’s naturalism, though the contrast itself shouldn’t be unexpected at a smaller facility like this. Both giraffes were out and on my fall visit, immediately approached the feeding area, probably expecting me to have food - but unfortunately, it was out of season. This was my first time seeing the species and it immediately struck me that they had darker coats than their cousins do!

Sadly both individuals Mac and Jabari have passed since my visits. Shaq is now the lone giraffe at the zoo as far as I have heard.

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There are two habitats connected to the barn, the first of which is a sandy display for Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra with water and a few shade structures. I had initially thought it lacked plantings, in fact. While no zebra were visible in fall, during my summer visit they were active and taking advantage of the trees near and in the exhibit perimeter for shade, privacy and to my surprise, snacking! One zebra reached his face into a tree and started feeding. I certainly appreciated now how much foliage there actually was and that the animals had full access to it. This was one of my favorite experiences viewing zebra.

The second of the middle habitats is for Eastern Black Rhinoceros, with lots of grass as well as some sandy areas, two shade structures, natural foliage, and “termite mounds”, and was surprisingly lush. A sign explained that after the COVID-19 pandemic, one of their rhinoceros, Kianga, prefers to stay inside - which was the case on both of my visits as well, unfortunately. I believe the exhibit has also held camels in the past.

A small, box-y supporting habitat is to the right of the rhinoceros habitat, slightly elevated and mesh-covered, with wood fencing and glass windows, and plenty of grass, branches, and a place to hide. There’s a neat idea here, with the ability to see through to the rhinoceros enclosure through this supporting exhibit, and outdoor small mammal habitats are rare in the midwest. The exhibit is currently empty but previously held fennec foxes for a number of years.

I was actually impressed with these habitats and besides the visible barn and the shade structures, they are much more naturalistic than the rest of the zoo and feel like they could fit well in a medium-sized facility as they offered a decent amount of space. They are not cutting-edge or innovative, but they are above the standard I would expect from a facility of this size.

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Barnyard Safari
On my way back towards the entrance, I peeked into this area briefly. This area provides animal interaction experiences for children such as feeding parakeets and petting goats, but is usually closed in the fall and winter months. Both exhibits seemed pretty empty. The parakeet aviary seemed sufficiently large for a few people to walk in and feed the parakeets but a crowd could easily overwhelm it. I find it hard to evaluate much in these circumstances but I don’t imagine many zoochatters are wondering about this area. I’ve read that Arctic foxes were sometimes held here in the past. It is sometimes called the Norco aviary.

Walkabout Creek
Macropod walkthroughs have become common and standard enough that it can be easy to dismiss them, but I was pleasantly surprised how immersive this walkabout proved to be. The entrance is built off a small building with a few glass windows to view smaller animals. Outside the entrance there is window viewing for domestic ferret, which I saw only briefly; after going inside the entrance but before entering Walkabout Creek, there is viewing off the same building for a red-tailed boa constrictor. Both of these boxy exhibits are mediocre and not very impressive, but the chosen species are the best possible use of these smaller spaces as opposed to cramming exotics in there.

Upon entering, there is a nice-sized wood-framed aviary that is home to a Tawny frogmouth with plenty of branches to climb. It’s a fairly nice aviary by itself, although it breaks up the otherwise very strong immersion of the habitat. A round path is surrounded by lots of grass and a good number of trees, especially keeping in mind I visited in fall, with a barn on the far side for macropods who want a break. Red Kangaroo, Western Gray Kangaroo, Common Wallaroo and Emu may all cross the path and interact with visitors; the macropods themselves were somewhat shy but not totally avoidant of people. While some may no doubt find the benches intrusive, I sat at one of them for a while and watched as Sydney emu, inches away, pecked at the bench. What a close encounter!

Sadly, Sydney emu has also passed away since my visits.

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The round path goes around an awkward section of the exhibit -- as it turns out, this is formerly the ‘creek’ of the exhibit name, and once housed black swans (per the gallery) and possibly other waterfowl, but the area is now empty. It kept drawing my eye as if to look for an exhibit that was no longer there. Such a shame this was removed as it sounds like a nice touch. Even if the water feature could not be retained, or if there were no animals to be held there, I wish there could still be a better use of this smaller space.

Near this area is typically the Jungle Grill eatery, but it was closed for the season.

Evaluation
I think the zoo’s strongest complex is Land of the Giants - the three outdoor yards are spacious enough for their inhabitants, which include three charismatic megafauna. Two of these yards seem fairly well-designed, but the giraffe exhibit could perhaps use some improvement, particularly in terms of a little more foliage. There are no obvious flaws or signs of age in the complex, save maybe the empty fox exhibit. Bear Ridge is also solid with some better education standards than other exhibits and a spacious bear habitat though it does feel like a lawn and could use some foliage. Again, a fox exhibit is a nice addition here. Neither fox exhibit is particularly impressive but both allow the complexes to dip into smaller animals. None of these exhibits can rival the best zoos in the country but all can out-compete some of the worst. The bald eagle aviary at Raptor Roost is also very impressive and surprisingly lush and one of the facility’s best.

I would also say that Walkabout Creek was excellent as well. Some wallaby walkthroughs are a bit too much of a manicured lawn in comparison, but this felt closer to a stroll through a natural forest clearing, and going on a quiet day I had the feeling of being truly alone with nature, not bothered by other visitors passing through. I was inches from an emu! The variety of macropods was also a treat and added a lot to the enclosure. I wanted to spend my time identifying the different species in question as they appeared. I do think restoring the old pool would add some value to this particular experience though, and the entrance area is pretty weak in some respects.

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I would have said the facility’s strongest highlight was the stork aviary. Though there are multiple artificial elements (house, wooden deck, mesh) it feels as if these are all surrounding a natural, lush wetland that is large enough for the animals to potentially hide in the foliage. The birds in question are large, formidable creatures while the tufted deer are smaller and shy, making for an interesting mix. Even from the deck, I still felt as if I were inside of the tufted deer’s own habitat. It is understandable why some might prefer large walkthrough aviaries with dizzying dozens of species, but there are no such outdoor aviaries in the Chicago-Milwaukee, with all three facilities in this area mostly having indoor tropical rainforest and swamp walkthroughs. It was not until the next year from my first visit that I experienced a larger outdoor walkthrough. Unfortunately, the storks are gone, leaving this exhibit a disappointment.

My most mixed feelings are on the Vanishing Kingdom, which feels like a classic zoo building, with excellent architecture and presence of some fascinating species with some fantastic enrichment opportunities all around that are higher than in some facilities, but the drawbacks include a lack of space for some of these fascinating animals. Most glaringly, the orangutans lack outdoor access, something that while not uncommon two decades ago at even some excellent zoos, is now considered unacceptable for the welfare of great apes in captivity. Taken in isolation, the indoor habitat is actually effective for an indoor ape habitat, preferable to the barren concrete at some facilities, but is an unacceptable alternative to an outdoor exhibit. I think (or hope, at least) that the zoo could easily find funding for an outdoor orangutan enclosure with a dedicated campaign and once that is accounted for, the historic building’s primary blight will be quite marginalized, though I might still suggest moving the fossa elsewhere.

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Aside from the weaknesses of Vanishing Kingdom mentioned above, the zoo has some big aesthetic weaknesses at Penguin Pals and Big Cat Kingdom, which rely on concrete and bright paint at the former. The concrete is particularly overwhelming at Big Cat Canyon, unfortunately.

The overall collection feels fairly balanced and diverse for its size. There are popular species like giraffe, rhinoceros, bears, big cats, canids, kangaroos, primates, meerkat and penguins alongside some slightly less typical fare like fossa and the storks. One very easy change I would suggest is the introduction of otters - a species that is common in small zoos, are often active and attractive. I initially was going to recommend more reptiles, but the Discovery Center collection is fine for such a small zoo, although it would be great if the zoo could acquire a small crocodilian someday. Obviously in either case though, semi-aquatic animals can be demanding by drawing on a lot of water and require filters.

The overall layout was all right. Like the much larger Brookfield at home, there are open areas intended for events and picnics that in the off-season are simply unused space to traverse. The area near Vanishing Kingdom, the Stork exhibit, the Tur Mountain and Walkabout Creek is a little dense, which I personally found positive, in comparison to the outer areas. As mentioned, the area between Land of the Giants and the rest of the zoo is especially focused on human amenities, feeling more like a complex. I think you could see most of this facility in less than two hours, but I spent around four hours there the first time, running through Vanishing Kingdom multiple times as well as the stork aviary and Land of the Giants twice each. The second visit was actually shorter.

Since I visited out of season, the eateries were shut down and I cannot review them; let’s say I did end my visit quite hungry and was eager to grab lunch after catching a train home. The shopping options inside the Zootique were adequate and I really wish I had spent more time looking for a souvenir; perhaps next time. The zoo’s seasonal Halloween decor worked well for me -- there were pumpkins everywhere and lots of charmingly low budget decorations -- but I could see some zoochatters viewing it as more of an eyesore. I appreciated it though and it was fun seeing the former Tur Mountain covered in pumpkins!

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Future and Improvements
There is a lot of room for improvement to this facility without making major changes to its character. The top priority should be an outdoor orangutan exhibit without question, and perhaps second would be an improved penguin habitat but this is harder to say. I also suggested otters as a new species to feature in a future exhibit.

If allowed ambition and a ‘master plan’ approach, I think I would put some work towards expanding Land of the Giants. A mixed exhibit for meerkat and porcupine would allow these animals to be moved from their existing animals and help concentrate and focus the African collection, and the return of Fennec fox would be welcome. It would be great if the indoor holding barn could be converted into something open to the public during the winter months as well, although this might be costly. The tallest order would be finding a way to move the lions towards this area of the zoo and integrate them alongside the other African species, but I think there is enough empty room for this to be possible. It would also be cool to introduce another hoofed species to the giraffe enclosure.

With the porcupine and potentially the lion moved outside the Vanishing Kingdom, the building could be refurbished to focus completely on primates. The existing outdoor primate exhibits would be completely rebuilt into a larger, outdoor mixed habitat for orangutan and gibbon, which would retain access to an expanded version of the existing indoor orangutan habitat and a revised indoor gibbon habitat as well; the opposite side of the building would be refocused on South American species, with top priority granted to emperor tamarin due to the zoo’s long history with them; they could easily be mixed with a few other callitrichid species, sloth and some small ground-dwelling mammals such as agouti. The layout for guests would remain much the same on the interior, allowing the building’s historic architecture and spirit to be preserved. I would love to apply a system like Canopy Trails to the Vanishing Kingdom’s Black-Handed Spider Monkeys, but am unsure if space would be available. Fossa would leave the collection as well.

The now empty meerkat exhibit could be combined with the existing Penguin Pals footprint to build a larger, superior habitat for penguins. Big Cat Canyon would be renovated to function as one large, multi-level exhibit for Amur tiger, connecting both the former lion and current tiger exhibits while making changes to the current lynx exhibit as a viewing are and corridor between the two larger spaces. Lush plantings and improved water features would be included.

I would love to introduce otters, but I am unsure where to do so. I think there’s an interesting possibility of modifying the vertical Arctic fox exhibit near Bear Ridge, allowing the upper land area for the otters to be viewed from inside the building, while guests on the path can view them underwater with more depth than some facilities. It might be cramped for otters though and it would be a shame to lose the Arctic fox. A new otter exhibit could replace the former goat mountain as well.

I would introduce a new caprid species at the Goat Mountain while introducing substrate at the bottom, but I’m not sure what species would work best for the space. Takin, urial, goral, and markhor are all possible options. The stork aviary needs new residents as well but truthfully I’m not sure what kind of bird would mix well with the tufted deer and make for a compelling display - perhaps Asian cranes, as is sometimes suggested.

It’s tempting to suggest changes to Discovery Center, but it’s very landlocked by the rest of the zoo and I can’t think of many changes to the interior worth making that wouldn’t make me want to expand the building or just result in another problem to solve later.

If all of these changes are implemented, you could end up with some great loosely-themed geography. Land of the Giants and the northern part of the zoo would be Africa-themed, while Vanishing Kingdom, Tiger Canyon, the Stork Aviary and likely Goat Mountain would all form a loose confederation of Asia-focused exhibits, Walkabout Creek is Australia, and Bear Ridge and Raptor Roost would focus on the Americas, with the further Vanishing Kingdom tying in as well, and Penguin Pals breaking the combination. This would be a much more focused facility while still retaining its spirit, in my opinion.

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Conclusions
Racine has been weakened significantly by the loss of their signature stork and tur - not only their rare status but leaving behind such large, borderline empty habitats, while the outdated orangutan exhibit is a massive blight on both Vanishing Kingdom and the facility as a whole, and an outdoor component should be prioritized. If I were the zoo director, I would make this my top goal, and I’m sure there are plenty of donors out there for such a project. There may be even more local support for this if nearby Milwaukee County Zoo carries out its plan to phase out orangutans from their collection.

For all of that though, I did find a lot to like, and there are multiple exhibits of decent to good quality. The Stork Aviary, the Bald Eagle Aviary and Walkabout Creek are excellent enclosures and I don’t think any of these three habitats would be very out of place in a major facility. Bear Ridge and Land of the Giants are not to that scale but also surprisingly solid exhibits for a smaller facility and while nowhere near those of the great zoos, they are still ahead of many older exhibits and some other small zoos. There are spaces at the zoo that punch above the weight of a smaller facility, and the collection overall is decent for such a small zoo. Based on the more recent exhibits, I really do think that with some funding, it absolutely has the potential to be closer in quality to a typical AZA collection, and this admittedly has colored the tone of my review.

Racine Zoo is not a particularly impressive facility by most measures, and it ranks low on my own ‘best zoos’ list. It’s far too small to compete with the more famous and iconic mega-zoos and there is no longer a “must-see” here in terms of exhibit standards or rarities. Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago is only seven acres larger and much more dense with species and high quality exhibits. Nobody from around the world or across the country should be making any kind of pilgrimage here; but I also think it’s decent enough to be worth a short visit if you’re breezing through the area already. For families in the area looking for a day out though, it’s a fine little day trip. There’s plenty for children to enjoy, from giraffe and parakeet feedings to a playground, and the kangaroo walkthrough is great. There are community events held here frequently and the people who work there seem to care about the animals. I hope this local enthusiasm can help this zoo someday reach its potential.

(This review took a while both because I wanted to revisit the zoo a second time initially, and then because I had trouble finding the right voice and tone. I've edited it three or four times.)

 

[Persephone]

Admittedly, I went before the loss of the storks and the tur. This about matches my thoughts. It goes back and forth with Scovil and Miller Park for the least impressive conventional zoo in the AZA I’ve visited. It still has some cool architecture, a very nice Australia area, and a luxury that most small zoos could only dream of: lots of room to expand. I could see them falling out of the AZA or making some improvements that make them a very nice small zoo. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[JVM]

Admittedly, I went before the loss of the storks and the tur. This about matches my thoughts. It goes back and forth with Scovil and Miller Park for the least impressive conventional zoo in the AZA I’ve visited. It still has some cool architecture, a very nice Australia area, and a luxury that most small zoos could only dream of: lots of room to expand. I could see them falling out of the AZA or making some improvements that make them a very nice small zoo. We’ll see how it goes.

Agreed. I'm pulling for them to improve. Even if the stork and tur are replaced by similar non-rarity species, they would still lend towards it being a unique collection and the aviary is still a solid exhibit. The more recent projects are high quality relative to size so I think any new projects would have a similar strength and the dated enclosures are probably more lack of funds than lack of care. Good point about the total size. It did surprise me to realize they were as big as Lincoln Park!

I suspect the proximity to Milwaukee County Zoo reduces the positive local pressure to expand the facility.

 

[Black Footed Beast]

Pretty soon we will see a replacement for the Tur, they were working on that exhibit during my recent visit, they did add some substrate to the bottom alongside another fence

 

[turkeyfox]

a luxury that most small zoos could only dream of: lots of room to expand.

They have a lot of room, much of which is just a big grass lawn in the middle of the zoo. I just don't think they have the funds to develop it. And if it were to be developed, would that bring in enough additional revenue to maintain it?