After more than 60 years, the Milwaukee County Zoo is designed to close the building of its small mammals, saying goodbye to small tenants.
Zoo officials have been taking care of the building for a while that the building is small, outdated and does not meet the standards of modern animal care. The effort to renovate the building was also considered too expensive. Over the decades, the building has lived a zoo bats, foxes, lazy, pigs, armadiles, tamarins, mongooses, otters, squirrels, bushbabs and lemura.
“If I am a bat, I should be able to fly at my exhibit. If I am a forefront for a pig, I should be able to climb the tree at my exhibit,” said Amos Morris, Executive Director of the Zoo. “The goal is that animals can perform their natural behavior and have a high level of wellness and well -being in their environment.”
“I really want the zoo to be seen as a place that provides a high level of care and high health of their animals, and I do not believe we can do it in that office,” he added.
Morris said he foresees no other building or exposition at the zoo that will be used similarly behind shutters, at least for the next 15 or 20 years.
The zoo specialist has an armor, one of many animals that has been accommodated at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The small mammal building is now closed because the space is outdated and no longer able to think about the best interests of the animals.
According to Megan O’Shea, a zoo spokesman, the transfer of animals to accredited zoo has already begun throughout the country. Morris confirmed that the zoo vampire bats had already been reorganized into an undisclosed new zoo, and that three more were transferred to the transfer of the transferes, leaving the building now half -empty.
Because the effort to move animals is an ongoing process, Morris assured that all animals are taught possible transfer. In most cases, animals are moved to their new device by land or weather and travel to the day. The animals will then be performed by a quarantine period dictated by the host zoo that will pay for the travel expenses.
“We are proud and care about the transfer of our animals from one goal to another,” Morris said.
The zoo does not have the exact date when the small mammal building will finally close permanently, but it is expected to take place later this year.
Zoo Strategic Plan emphasized a commitment to modernized habitats
April The Zoo announced its new strategic plan and reviewed the main plan of the site’s future, emphasizing its commitment to the involvement of modernized habitats and the intoxicating experience of visitors.
Atticus, cotton cotton tamarin, is visible in the small mammal district at the Milwaukee County Zoo in 2021. In the spring.
The owners of the zoo who are influenced by the future closure of the building will be transferred to the alternative animal care sites at the zoo.
Sheldon A. Wasserman, head of the Board of the Milwaukee County, who is the head of the County Parks and Culture Committee, met Morris to visit the building against a public announcement. Wasserman told the magazine he supported his support.
“The zoo is changing. In Milwaukee, things are changing, and we are really lucky to have one of the best zoos in the nation,” he said. “This is one of the things we need to do to stay as one of the best zoos in the nation.”
In recent years, the zoo has removed animals from certain buildings due to improper infrastructure or habitat restrictions. 2021 He closed the Polar Bear exposition; – Sea Lion exhibit.
2023 At the end of the 19th century, the Milwaukee Business Journal reported that after completing the Zoo’s Adventure Africa campaign, Morris said he had directed his gaze to the small mammal building. At the time, he mentioned concern about small mammals with enough space, as well as structural wear.
“When we are talking about modern zoo standards, we are not only talking about a new exhibition. You can do modern animal care and livestock farming in older premises if they are customized. What we are looking for is an animal to choose and control our environment,” Morris said.
This story has been updated to add new information.
The fruit bat from Africa hangs on a branch at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Bats were accommodated in a small mammalian building, now set to close.
Contact Vanessa Swales by phone 414-308-5881 or [email protected]. Follow her x @Vanessa_swales;
This article initially appeared at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Zoo, closing the exposition of small mammals by sending animals