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snowleopard

snowleopard

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Wildwood Zoo is a tiny facility in Wisconsin (one of at least 24 zoos in that state and not to be confused with Wildwood Wildlife Park) and there are plans to start construction in 2015 on a $1.1 million expansion of the Grizzly Bear exhibit. One of the people working on the project is Rob Laidlaw, founder of Zoocheck Canada, proving that individuals associated with that organization are perhaps not completely anti-zoo after all. Most intriguing of all is the design, with a 1-acre "bear woods" being connected to an improved exhibit via a bridge. It reminds me of Denver Zoo's Toyota Elephant Passage but for a very tiny zoo in Wisconsin it seems like a revelatory exhibit. There is more information and 4 drawings on this link:

New Grizzly Bear Enclosure
 
Some updates from my visit yesterday:

  • Saw the new Ornate Box Turtle exhibit. It's nice.
  • The old Bighorn Sheep exhibit remains empty.
  • Several Black-Tailed Prairie Dog pups were born.
  • The Kodiak Bears are just a year or two (don't remember the exact age) old, and alrady the size of a Grizzly!
  • The entire Turkey Vulture exhibit is gone.
  • Photos and a review coming soon!
 
Updates from my visit today:

  • There was previously no barriers between the visitors and the zoo's Ornate Box Turtle. Now here is a thin mesh.
  • I finally saw the bears use the bridge.
  • The rotated pasture contained American Elk today.
  • I heard the wolves howl.
  • The Bobcat was surprisingly active.
  • Signage discussing the planned Cougar exhibit is now up.
  • The Peregrine Falcon exhibit was renovated to include a mock-rock cliff.
  • The zoo was in bloom! My favorite spring wildflowers were everywhere, including trilliums, trout lilies of both species, Blue Cohosh, Canada Anemone, spring beauty, and Dutchman's Breeches.
  • Plenty of migrant birds were present, too! Three warbler species, Savannah Sparrow, Warbling Vireo, and Spotted Sandpiper isn't bad, especially when you consider one of the warblers (Blackpoll) was a lifer!
 
Cool! Will this make Wildwood the state’s only zoo with mountain goats? I remember Henry Vilas used to have them long ago, but don’t recall ever actually seeing them.
 
The two times I visited Wildwood Wildlife Park they didn't have any, but they're always pulling animals out of somewhere, so maybe the have them now. Their park map is usually up-to-date on their species.
 
birdsandbats said:
Yes, it is. And given that the DNR does not allow any more prairie dogs to be brought into the state, we may lose the species soon.
Click to expand...

Looks like I have to buy some prairie dogs and start breeding them. ;)

Jokes aside, I don't think I'll ever own prairie dogs. I've heard that they don't always make good ambassador animals, as they can be extremely aggressive.
 
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