Milwaukee Zoo

We were pooped after spending the day in Michigan so we got a late start on Tuesday. We finally made it up the other side of Lake Michigan up to the Milwaukee County Zoo.

It was pretty easy to get there using the highway and well marked once we got off. I was surprised that the admission was more than Brookfield Zoo.

The first thing we saw was the primate house. It was pretty extensive. Lots of different animals from the standard Apes and Orangutans to the less common Bonobo and Colobus Monkey.

We learned about the last 2 on the trip last year. It is a huge building and it is obvious that Milwaukee is very proud if this exhibit.

We tried to move quickly between exhibits because our late start didn't leave us as much time as we would have liked.
The reptile and amphibian house was next. Many different things going on here. Fish from Lake Wisconsin was the center tank and it included the famed Muskie.

This picture really tickled us. The turtle just swam up to the Chinese crocodile and layed on his back. The croc didn't do anything about it. I guess the turtle is too big to eat.

One positive thing to day about the zoo is that there are tons of trees providing lots of shade. We were hot in the sun so it was welcome relief.

As most of you know i am a big fan of the bears in any zoo. This zoo was stocked with them to my delight. Interestingly there was one grizzly exhibit with a momma and 3 babies. The babies were born right after the momma was brought to the zoo earlier this decade. It is unusual for cubs to last longer than 3 years with the momma. These guys have been together much longer than that. In a zoo these solitary animals can live together. The momma was clearly in charge. In this picture she was kicking back in her hammock.

The elk and caribou were sharing the same enclosure but it was obviously hide and see time. The elk were hiding and as you can tell by the picture below it was the caribou's turn to count.

Dayne snapped this photo of the rhana giraffe. It is very pale in comparison to most giraffes but is not albino.
Even though we were a bit rushed and did miss a few things we did enjoy ourselves. We saw most of the animals.

The next couple of days for us will be spent at the dells so no pics right away. Heading to MN for a couple more so check back later in the week.