Zoo Review: Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo and Adventure Park, Part II

Continuing our tour of the Northeastern Wisconsin (NEW) Zoo…

Compared to the first half of the zoo, the Northern/Wisconsin area is considerable more natural, with larger, more attractive habitats.  It’s here that the zoo aficionado is also more likely to see species of interest.  One of the first exhibits likely to be seen is the Great Plains, a spacious habitat for American bison, elk, and pronghorn.  Visitors view the animals from a boardwalk stretched over a pond that it inhabited by trumpeter swans.  The Great Plains yard is so large that the bison can actually seem small as they stand towards the back of their field, and it took me a while to even see a pronghorn.

Wisconsin’s nickname is “the Badger State,” so, fittingly enough, there’s a badger exhibit here.  This actually might be the first time I’ve seen an American badger on display – all of the other ones I’ve seen were education animals.  The animal has a side-by-side exhibit with prairie dogs (a natural prey animal).  As with many zoos, there’s a tunnel that lets visitors (well, the short ones, anyway) pop up in the middle of the prairie dog habitat.  This one lets you pop up in the badger exhibit as well.

More small mammals can be seen along the trail in the form of raccoon and North American porcupine, their attractive, open air exhibits framing the entrances of a modest North American aviary.  Like most North American aviaries, this one is very waterfowl-heavy, though American white pelicans and black-necked stilts also make their homes here, while a side-habitat contains bald eagle.  Outside is a very attractive habitat for North American river otter.  It’s one of the few river otter exhibits I’ve seen that doesn’t include underwater viewing, but honestly, I didn’t mind – it seemed to enhance the naturalism. 

Many of the Wisconsin habitats are wrapped around an enormous white-tailed deer and wild turkey yard, peppered with towering pines.  Along one side of the yard is a series of mesh-enclosed habitats for the three northern wildcats – puma, Canada lynx, and bobcat… as well as decidedly un-American red pandas.  Nearby is a small aviary for snowy owls.  Habitats for red wolf (not from Wisconsin, but a species that’s always in need of more holders as we try to rebuild the population), red fox, and American black bear round out the trail.  I’d call the bear exhibit the weakest of the exhibits in this half of the zoo (I consider bears notoriously hard to build great exhibits for), but I’d still compare it favorably with any of the habitats in the international section of the zoo.

Near the cats, a small spur of a trail leads off to a boardwalk overlooking a marshy yard.  Here, visitors can observe moose, one of the largest yet most rarely-displayed animals in the New World, as well as rare whooping cranes in a separate yard.  I probably spent more time at the moose exhibit than I did at the rest of the zoo put together, so excited was I to see one.  The habitat was very attractive as well, with plenty of space, a natural setting, and an unobstructed view.  If there was one thing that I would have liked, it would have been to have the chance for a closer view, preferably on ground level, so I could have gotten an appreciation for just how big the animals are.

The moose and cranes can be seen from an elevated platform that encircles the Riley Building, a hodgepodge collection of small animals, mostly native, such as black-footed ferret and burrowing owl, but with cotton-topped tamarins thrown in as well.  Animals are viewed from the outside of the building as visitors walk around the perimeter (in this age of COVID, I’m always appreciative when I don’t have to go inside with strangers to see animals).  It was noteworthy to me in that it was one of the few times I’ve seen a black-footed ferret awake and active.

Overall, the Wisconsin/Northern section was sufficient to make me wish that there had been even more of it – or at least that the rest of the zoo was built to its standard.  I’ve heard that NEW zoo has a masterplan in the works, so I’m interested to see what changes and developments it makes.  There are plenty of things that the zoo does well, and I hope that they build on those successes rather than try to do what might prove to be beyond its abilities to do well.