Easter Delivery: Wildwood Wildlife Park Style!

Springtime is one of our favorite times of the year and not just because it means a return to longer days and the absence of substantial snow pack in Wisconsin's north woods.

A special delivery was made to the park on Easter Sunday with the arrival of baby Aoudad's. We were able to take a few photographs of the babies outside shortly after their birth but then we relocated them indoors due to the extreme night time temperatures.

Aoudads, the only wild sheep indigenous to Africa, were originally native to the Barbary coast including the areas of Morocco, the Western Sahara, Egypt, and Sudan. These beautiful animals have been vulnerable to extinction in their native land but are making a remarkable comeback.

Aoudads have tan-colored thick, shaggy coats with a hint of red that become darker as the Aoudads grow older. They can grow to a height of 2-12/ to 3 feet at the shoulder and generally are 4-12/ to 5 feet in length. Aoudads can weigh anywhere from 150 to 300 pounds.

Mating takes place throughout the year but generally will occur from September through November so the babies will arrive in the months of March through May: the gestation period is approximately 155-160 days.

Fun Facts

Aoudads are grazers, chewing their cud. They have a four-chambered stomach that allows them to ruminate. 

Can you name another animal at the zoo that has a four-chambered stomach?

A male Aoudad is called a ram.

A female Aoudad is called a ewe. 

Opening for the 2012 Season on Saturday, April 28th!

Although it has been warm outside we are in the process of acclimating Wildwood Wildlife Park animal residence. We gradually change the environment temperature, humidity, and photoperiod so all the animals will adjust to temperature fluxuation from morning to peak day to evening temperatures. The majority of our animals have been in consistent heated temperature buildings, so acclimation occurs by lowering the ambient temperature 5 degrees every week until the temperature in the building is similar to the outside temperature. Then our animals will be ready to transfer to their outside exhibits.

Our black bears woke up one week ago: Buddy (seen in the photo on the right) is wide-awake, Candy is half awake, Honey did not want to wake up she opened her eyes licked her toes and fell back to sleep!

Candy and Honey have been sleeping most of the days even though the weather is nice.  

Spring has sprung Wildwood Wildlife Park has some babies born already including:

Baby Cavy

Baby Chicks

Baby Bunnies

Baby Chinchilla

Angel on My Shoulder on January 20, 2012 at Camp Manito-wish YMCA in Boulder Junction, WI

We enjoyed an evening with young people experiencing cancer through loved ones.

Angel on My Shoulder opens its arms with compassion and kindness to these remarkable campers who join us for Camp Angel.  Lolly Rose Founder/Executive Director called and invited us to come to camp to present with Wildwood Wildlife Educational Animals.  We were very delighted to be asked.


Representing the staff at Wildwood Wildlife Park were Zookeepers Jen/Brooke/Beth and Zoo Directors Judy/Duane. 


We've posted photographs of our time with the campers on Flickr, which you can access here.


Angel On My Shoulder is blessed to be able to provide these campers the opportunity to meet others experiencing cancer through loved ones in a well-supervised atmosphere of love and understanding and lift them up in a positive way.


We want to Thank Lolly Rose and the entire camp staff for allowing us to share a memorable and joyous evening with the campers.

Thank You From Wildwood Residents and Staff!

While our residents may be spending the winter slumbering away, we hope you will continue to follow us on our blog, Facebook and Twitter. We look forward to sharing stories and photographs with you over the next few months! But until then our residents say ...

Zoo Boo - The Movie

The premier of Zoo Boo The Movie. Spooktacular!

Sleeping Goldfish

As we move deeper into Autumn our residents are making their own preparations for the arrival of winter. We'll follow up with a blog post on the difference between sleeping and hibernation in the coming weeks but thought we'd leave you with an interesting bit of trivia.

The Sleeping Goldfish

Did you know you've probably owned a hibernating animal at one point in your life? The Domesticated goldfish that live in outdoor ponds hibernate to get through the winter.

They float at the bottom of the pond below the winter ice in a state of reduced metabolic activity. The greatest danger to the goldfish is the accumulation of ammonia in the water from their own waste and decaying plant matter.

5th Annual Zoo Boo, October 15, 2011