Meet the zoo’s new river otters
3 animals will inhabit outdoor exhibit, entrance
Construction workers are completing a water park that will open in Milwaukee this weekend featuring a couple of pools connected by a burbling stream, a water slide through a hollow log and a rustic waterfall.
Visitors to the Milwaukee County Zoo can leave their swimsuits at home. The fun water park is only for river otters.
On Saturday, the zoo is opening a new entrance and parking area with 525 spaces at the northwest side of the facility. Visitors coming through the new entrance will see “Otter Passage,” a large outdoor area for the zoo’s three North American river otters.
It’s been a few years since the zoo had otters. Two brothers inhabited the small mammal building for many years before Buddy died in 2014 followed by Oscar two years later. Now a sloth named Fezzik lives in the otters’ former apartment with a roommate — an orange-rumped agouti named Fernando.
Three 1-year-old female otters recently arrived from other zoos. Shamrock and Clover were born on St. Patrick’s Day. The third otter is named Emerald.
“I think it will be a huge attraction,” said Beth Rich, the zoo’s director of animal management and health. “The otters were always a huge hit. They’re an iconic species here in Wisconsin.”
Members of the weasel family, otters are peppy, rambunctious, inquisitive and energetic. They’re like 2-year-old humans who have just eaten a bag of cotton candy. So zoo officials anticipate they’ll be a big draw for visitors excited to see their antics, especially as Shamrock,
A view of the new Otter Passage exhibit that will be home to North American river otters at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The exhibit will open Saturday. More photos at jsonline.com/news
Clover and Emerald explore every nook and cranny of their new pad.
While getting to know the new residents, zookeepers painted their claws to keep them straight: Emerald, of course, got green nail polish, Shamrock was pink and Clover was purple.
The polish has since worn off, but by now zookeepers know who is who. Meanwhile, to help the otters get to know each other, keepers put a small amount of eucalyptus oil on each so they all smell the same.
“Otters identify other family members by smell,” said Rich. “Otters are territorial and a new otter is seen as competition for resources. We think (using eucalyptus oil) really helped because they all smelled the same.”
The new parking lot and entrance were built after the zoo lost a substantial number of parking spots at the east end of the park to the Zoo Interchange project, said John Westrich, director of grounds and maintenance. Site clearing of the mostly wooded area began in 2014, with construction starting two years ago.
Westrich said the new parking area should alleviate traffic congestion at peak times when cars back up on W. Bluemound Road to enter the zoo’s east end, which has 2,829 parking spaces. Unlike the current entrance, where visitors drive up to an admissions booth and pay to get in, the new entrance will feature a ticket machine where folks get a ticket as they enter and then take to an admissions booth to go inside the zoo.
The west entrance features a gift shop, picnic tables, a small concession area selling drinks and snacks and a gift shop featuring otter-themed gifts, including stuffed otters, otter T-shirts, socks and coffee mugs.
For the last six weeks, the otters have been in quarantine as keepers make sure they’re healthy and adjusting to their new digs. Otter Passage features a building with solar tubes to allow in natural light, and a maternity area.
A male otter is expected to arrive soon from Zoo Montana and Milwaukee zookeepers are hoping to start a breeding program.
The new exhibit has almost 1,700 feet of dry land plus an 8-foot-deep pool with 6,000 gallons of water and a 6foot-deep pool of 4,000 gallons connected by a stream. The water turns over every 32 minutes because otters are strong swimmers and like fast-moving water, said Rich.
Otter Passage includes a den with a heated rock where visitors can see the otters up close, even in the winter months. There’s also a training panel that zookeepers will open and train the otters to come close to a window so the animals can be checked.
“Husbandry training is what we’re all about. We’re training the animals to participate in their care,” said Rich.