Continuing our tour of the Henry Vilas Zoo, we come to the Children's Zoo, nestled alongside the lake. Like many children's zoos, this one is dominated by play structures and domestic animal contact areas, as well as rides in the form of a carousel and a short train ride that chugs along the edge of the water. It would be a mistake to bypass this area if you don't have kids in attendance, however, because some of the most interesting animals in the zoo - including many of the small mammals - are tucked away here. Entrance to the Children's Zoo takes you past a grassy yard with a small mixed-flock of Chilean and American flamingos, then to a mesh-enclosed habitat for white-handed gibbons. A small mammal house features wrap around viewing for aardvark, meerkat, crested porcupine, and red pandas. And, for weary parents who are tired from chasing their kids back and forth across the zoo grounds, the koi pond is a pleasant place to site and catch one's breath.
The nearby Discovery Center/Herpetarium offers a small but interesting collection of reptiles and amphibians, including outdoor exhibits for American alligator and Aldabra tortoise. The tortoises also have indoor viewing as well, a worthwhile feature for any reptile exhibit located in Wisconsin, I would think (I'm actually surprised that the alligator exhibit didn't as well).
The remainder of the zoo is taken up by North American exhibits. Bison graze a plain and rather basic field exhibit grandiosely named the George Fait North American Prairie (prairie dogs found nearby as well), with harbor seals in a nearby pool (which, to be honest, I found viewing of difficult through he glass. For most visitors, the stars of this area will be the bears of Arctic Passage. Grizzly and polar bears (a very popular species that's starting to become something of a rarity in zoos) occupy side-by-side yards, with a Tundra Buggy nearby for kids to explore. The polar bears have an excellent underwater viewing area with seating available, and can also be viewed from the nearby Glacier Grille restaurant. While this isn't the single most amazing polar bear exhibit I've seen (probably points to Columbus or Detroit for that), it was better than most, and I don't think I've ever been to a polar bear exhibit were the bears were so active and engaged. The pair was tussling in the pool when I was there, and even though it seemed like every visitor in the zoo was at the window that day, I still got an excellent view (there are windows set both below the water and at the water level, and I enjoyed views from both. It was a reminder to me of just how amazingly fun polar bears can be to watch when they are in their element. I could have watched for far longer than I did.
I did say that for *most* visitors the bears would be the highlight of the North American section. For zoo visitors, however, the most famous attraction is the tiny Wisconsin Heritage exhibit nearby, featuring sandhill cranes and what is probably the world's best exhibit of Wisconsin's state mammal, the American badger. The stocky weasel-relatives have a spacious yard with lots of digging opportunities, while the nearby viewing bunker provides educational materials about badgers and their cultural role in Wisconsin life. There is, of course, a nearby statue of a certain college mascot on a bench, where I'm sure many incoming freshman have groaned with exasperation as their parents have insisted on having their pictures taken.
Henry Vilas is a pleasant little zoo, one that certainly would seem to satisfy the small-city demands of Madison by providing a representative collection of the animals folks are most keen to see. Some of the exhibits seem a little underwhelming, if not "bad" - the giraffe exhibit, for instance, was just kind of bland (but then again, most giraffe exhibits are). The zoo really shines at its best when it breaks the mold and provides exciting exhibit space dedicated to animals that might not receive such attention elsewhere, like its badger exhibit (though one complaint - I really think the sandhill cranes should receive an upgrade to make them an equal attraction for Wisconsin Heritage - Madison lies in the flight path of migrating sandhill cranes - I saw some later that day - and those are truly one of the most iconic species of the region). I don't know that I would have made too much effort to seek the zoo out if I hadn't already been passing through, but I between the badger exhibit, the porcupines, the pleasurable experience of watching the polar bears, and a few other highlights, I'm certainly glad I stopped by.
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