Another Addition To The Wildwood Wildlife Park Nursery: Bennett's Wallaby

It may be cold and snowy outside but inside Wildwood Wildlife Park, even the return of winter can’t dampen the excitement surrounding our newest addition to the nursery: Reeka, a Bennett’s Wallaby also known as the Red-necked Wallaby.

Wallaby’s and kangaroos are part of the marsupial family. Young wallabies are known as “joeys”, like many other marsupials. Adult male wallabies are referred to as “bucks” while adult female wallabies are knowns as “does.”

The Red-necked Wallaby can be distinguished from other wallabies by its white cheek markings, the red coloring on the neck and by their black nose and paws. . The rest of the Red-necked Wallaby’s body fur is colored grey to red with a white or pale grey abdomen. Their muzzle, paws and toes are black in color.

Wallabies are herbivores whose diet consists of grasses, roots, vegetables and tree leaves. Red-necked wallabies are mainly solitary but will gather together when there is an abundance of resources such as food, water or shelter. Red-necked Wallabies are mainly nocturnal; they spend most of the daytime resting.

Red-necked Wallabies are found in coastal forests throughout the coastal and highland are of eastern Australia. 

Wallabies, like all marsupials, are pouched mammals. A female bears one offspring at a time; the baby stays in the pouch for about 280 days. The pouch acts as a warm, safe place where the joey grows.

Map of Australia and Joey-Face-In-Pouch Photo Source: Wikipedia

Brand New to the Wildwood Wildlife Park Nursery: Baby Eland "Elle"

Here in Minocqua, we have over a foot of snow on the ground and the temperatures have not reached 35 degrees in weeks. But inside our buildings it's warm and toasty, which is especially important during this time of the year when our nursery is starting to get busy.

We are pleased to introduce one of our first arrivals - Elle, the common eland.

The common eland, also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is the second largest antelope in the world.

The common eland is an herbivore, which means its diet is primarily grasses and leaves. Common elands form herds of up to 500 animals, with individual members remaining in the herd anywhere from several hours to several months. They prefer a wide variety of flowering plants such as savannah, woodlands, and open grasslands and avoids dense forests. It uses loud barks to communicate and warn others of danger. They eat in the morning and evening, rest in the shade when it is hot and remain in sunlight when cold. 

The common eland is the slowest of the antelopes. They are capable of jumping up to 8 feet from a standing start when startled. 

The females are smaller than the males; females can weigh between 750 to 1,000 pounds, an adult male is around 5 feet tall at the shoulder and can weigh up to 1,300 pounds.

Common elands are spiral-horned antelopes; both males and females have these horns. These horns are visible as small buds in newborns and grow rapidly during the first seven months. Can you see the small buds on Elle in the photo on the left? The horns of the male are thicker and shorter than those of the female and a have a tighter spiral. Males use their horns during the rutting season to wrestle and butt heads with rivals, while females use their horns to protect their young from predators. Both males and females use their horns to break off branches that are hard to reach.

Wildwood Wildlife Park Welcomes Porcupette Spike

Did you know that a baby porcupine is known as a porcupette? They are! Our zoo is happy to introduce Spike, a three-day old porcupette. I'm sure you will agree that he is adorable!


Our zoo has three different species of porcupine: North American, South American and African. Spike is a North American Porcupine.


There are two main groups of porcupine: Old World Porcupines which are mainly ground-dwelling animals while the other species, New World Porcupines, are animals that can climb trees. Can you guess which group Spike and his parents are?


Like all porcupettes, Spike was born with soft quills that become hard within hours following birth. Did you know that quills are hairs with barbed tips on the end? Quills are solid at the tip and base but most of the quill shaft is hollow. Porcupines are good swimmers, its hollow quills help keep it afloat. A single porcupine can have as many as 30,000 needle-like quills. The quills are found on all parts of the body, except for a porcupine's stomach; the longest quills are on its rump and the shortest quills are on its cheek. 


Porcupines have hairless soles on their strong feet; their curved claws and flat paws are known as master-climbers.

Porcupines are herbivores; they like to eat leaves, twigs and green plants. They do not hibernate and in the winter they will climb trees to find food, most bark and tender twigs.


The porcupine is a solitary animal but it is very vocal and has a wide variety of calls including grunts, coughs and tooth clicking!


Baby porcupines begin foraging for food after only a couple of days; babies stay with their mother for about six months. We hope you'll visit the zoo and welcome Spike as one of our newest residents.