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 2014 School Field Trip: Enjoy a Great Educational Learning Experience

Printable images of the post card that will be mailed out to area schools with information for the 2014 season. Book your school field trip today!

Boreal Owl

We normally think of fall as a time of the year when Canadian Geese, Loons, Swans, Hummingbirds, Robins and a variety of other birds leave our back yard feeders for warmer climates.

But did you know that there are many varieties of birds that call Wisconsin home during the winter months? During the next few months we will highlight several of these birds who leave the cold and snow of their summer home for the cold and snow of our neighborhoods.

We start off with one of the most elusive members of the owl family - Boreal Owl.

These seldom seen owls are among the smallest members of the owl family and are rarely seen in the state of Wisconsin. However, earlier this year a crash in the rodent population in Canada forced several species of owls, including the northern hawk owl, great gray owl and boreal owl, to venture further and further south in search of food. It is unknown how many of these birds ventured into Wisconsin. The rare bird alert on the website of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology saw numerous posting, including observations of owls as far south as Dane and Kenosha counties.

Several sitings of Boreal Owls occurred near bird feeders as the owls were attracted to the mice that are found under the feeders.

This YouTube video shows a Boreal Owl hunting in daytime

Join Us For The 7th Annual Zoo Boo Event! A Masquerade Party For The Whole Family!

It's almost here! One of the park's most anticipated events ... Zoo Boo! Join us for this family event - bring your little ghost, goblins and gouls and celebrate Zoo Boo!

Click on the imagine to print out or share digitally with your family and friends.

See you Saturday, October 12th from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. - rain or shine!

Bat Appreciation Days

Bats - one of the center stage players during Halloween - is a much maligned creature of the night. 

Did you know that bats don't attack people - nor do they do not get tangled in people's hair and even true vampire bats are not true vampires.

Bats live on all continents except Antarctica, are essential members of many types of ecosystems - from rain forests to deserts. Bats pollinate and disperse the seeds of hundred of species of plants and are the major pollinators of many types of cacti that open their flowers only at night - when bats are active. They also eat copious quantities of insects and other arthropods. On a typical night, a bat consumes the equivalent of its own body weight.

Bats are very nimble flyers because of the dexterity of their wings, which, unlike insect and bird wings, are structured to fold during flight, very similar to the way we fold our hands. Bat wings are draped with skin that stretches and are powered by special muscles.

The importance of bats as part of our world compounds the tragic dimensions of an almost always fatal epidemic in bats: White-nose Syndrome.

Named for a cold-loving white fungus that is typically found on the faces and wings of infected bats, White-nose Syndrome causes bats to awaken more often during hibernation and use up the stored fat reserves that they need to get them through the winter. Infected bats often emerge too soon from hibernation and can be seen flying around in midwinter. These bats usually freeze or starve to death and is almost always fatal.

White-nose Syndrome has killed more than 5.7 million bats since it was discovered in a single New York cave in February 2006. Seven bat species in 23 United States and 5 Canadian provinces have now been documented with White-nose Syndrome.

Close to home, White-nose syndrome has been detected in two Minnesota state parks.

The disease is transmitted primarily from bat to bat, inadvertently fungal spores are carried into caves by humans on clothing and caving gear. The syndrome is not known to be a threat to humans, pets, livestock or other wildlife.

While only a few of the bats in the Minnesota state parks have tested positive for the fungus, if Minnesota follows the trends of other states, the disease is likely to be present in Minnesota bats within two to three years.

Mortality rates approaching 100% are reported at some sites. White-nose Syndrome threatens some of the largest hibernation caves of the endangered Indiana myotis, gray myotis, and Virginia big-eared bats. Ultimately, all bats across North America are at imminent risk.

What is being done?

In 2009 and 2010, a team of federal and state agencies prepared a White-nose Syndrome management plan to address the threat to hibernating bats. In Tennessee, a state of 10,000 caves and 16 species of bats including the winter home to 270,000 gray bats, a very special project is underway.

Wildwood Wildlife Park Says Thank You To Our Zoo Keepers: Zoo Keeper Appreciation Week July 21-27

National Zoo Keepers Appreciation Week July 21-27th

On behalf of the entire staff we would like to say thank you to the dedicated Zoo Keepers at Wildwood Wildlife Park for the incredible work they do keeping our animals healthy and happy. 

Our Zoo Keepers devote their lives taking care of our diverse collection of animals. Everyday is a unique learning experience - when you spend your day with animals, no day is ever the same.  

Zoo Keepers do so much more than just feeding, clean up after and care for the animals. They are advocates for the animals they care for and they strive to make the public aware of issues facing animals in the wild. Today's Zoo Keepers interact with the animals in their care which includes training and enrichment to ensure the animals act more like their wild selves. Zoo Keepers keep close watch over the animals in order to detect the slightest change that could be an indication of an illness; animals instinctively hide because in the wild, an illness is a sign of weakness.

If you visit the park this week, please say hello to the Keepers and thank them for the hard work they perform every day to care for our animal residents. We appreciate everything they do to help make Wildwood Wildlife Park a destination for conservation, education and FUN! 

Teeke and Twiga: Wildwood Wildlife Park Two Newest Residents

Wildwood Wildlife Park is proud to announce the arrival of two new animals to our Zoo family: a ten-month old male giraffe named "Teeke" and a seven-month old female giraffe named "Twiga."

We've been getting ready for the arrival for the past few years and recently finished construction on their new home. So many of our friends have been asking when to expect the giraffes arrival and we appreciate your patience and understanding that their arrival was dependent upon Twiga being totally weaned and independent.

Teeke and Twiga arrived at Wildwood Wildlife Park on Tuesday, June 18, 2013, from the Tanganyika Wildlife Park in a specially designed trailer built to hold giraffes. Because they are young, the trip from Goddard, Kansas, to Minocqua was made easier than if they were full-grown adults.

Teeke and Twiga are settling into their new home in the zoo's African Serengeti exhibit. The African Serengeti project has been in the works for past two years with the giraffe barn and giraffe yard completion in May 2013.

We would like to thank our proud sponsors of the African Serengeti Project for helping helping our dreams come true:

County Materials Corporation
King Quarry LLC
Quality Heating Inc
Stratford Building Supply Inc
Hartman Well Drilling Inc
Ritchie Lakeland Oil & Propane
Northern Pines Greenery Inc
Friends of the Zoo

During the time when Teeke and Twiga are acclimating to their new home they will be indoors: our guests will be able to view the giraffes through the glass viewing area.

Wildwood Wildlife Park is home to over 1,000 animals so in addition to visiting the giraffes, there is so much to see and do!

Check out the largest interactive animal encounter in Wisconsin where guests can feed goats, sheep, pigs, cuddle a bunny, hug a tortoise, pet a porcupine, stroke a skunk and much more.

Experience hand-feeding Whitetail deer, camel and aoudads or feed our black bears Buddy, Candy and Honey their favorite treat, "Bear Juice."

Everyone in your family will enjoy the Budgie Encounter which is a Free Flight Aviary where the parakeets land on you and enjoy a seed stick which you can purchase.

Families have been visiting our zoo for over 50 years - generations of families have made a visit to our zoo part of their family tradition. Helping you make family memories is part of our mission.

Wildwood Wildlife Park is located two miles west of U.S. 51 on U.S. 70 in Minocqua, Wisconsin. We are open 7-days a week, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.