Zoo Closing Small Animals Habitat

Small Animals Habitat in 1965. Photo from the Milwaukee County Zoo.

The Milwaukee County Zoo announced Wednesday it would close the small animals habitat by the end of the year.

The facility does not provide an adequate habitat for the species there, Zoo Director Amos Morris said in a statement Wednesday.

“Better than waiting until a new exhibit comes our way, we believe that our animals need to be in places that are successful,” he said.

The habitat is home to the following species: Ring-tailed lemurs, Hoffmann’s two-toed sloths, Dwarf mongooses, Prehensile-tailed porcupines, Cotton-top tamarins, Bushbaby Fennec foxes, Southern three-banded armadillos, Prevost’s squirrel and Straw-colored fruit bats

“Bats fly, we don’t exhibit them in that fashion,” Morris said. “Bats need to fly, it’s part of their being.”

The decision to close the habitat follows the completion of a new strategic plan for the zoo that emphasizes maintaining modern, high-quality standards for animal care. “Part of getting there is some things have to move on, so to speak,” Morris said.

The small animals habitat was one of the original buildings at the zoo, which opened in 1958. The zoo has similarly closed other facilities that part of the zoo’s original footprint.

“We want to provide our animals with the things that they need to be [able] to live a successful life,” Morris said. “We believe that this building does not give us that opportunity.”

During the past decade, the zoo has spent more than $44 million on major habitat projects. That included more than $16 million for the new elephant habitat, $23.1 million for the rhinoceras habitat and $5 million for a new penguin habitat.

Inflation after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic ballooned the cost of major infrastructure projects. In 2023, the zoo had to go back to the Milwaukee County Board seeking additional funding for the rhinoceras project when project costs nearly doubled.

Typically, major projects at the zoo were funded 50/50 by the Zoological Society of Milwaukee and the county taxpayer. But on the rhino project, the county found itself paying for nearly 70% of construction. Supervisors, upset with shifting financial burden, codified the 50/50 split with a budget amendment, preventing future zoo projects from receiving taxpayer funding without at least 50% coming from the zoological society or grants.

Even if the county is only paying for 50% of the projects going forward, it has increasingly little funding for infrastructure projects. Over the next five years, it’s estimated that the government will have approximately $1.1 billion worth of capital needs and only $375 million in available funding, according to the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance.

The zoo has already begun relocating some of the animals in the exhibit. It is an ongoing process expected to finish by the end of the year, at which point the habitat will be shuttered. The zookeepers working in the habitat will keep their jobs and be transferred to other areas of the zoo.

“You may want to take the time to come take a look and experience [the animals] once again before they leave our zoo,” Morris said.

Existing members must be signed in to see the interactive map. Sign in.