The Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was first established in 1892 as the West Park Zoo in Milwaukee's Washington Park. It was renamed the Washington Park Zoo in 1900 and was expanded to 23 acres in 1902, and was renamed the Milwaukee County Zoological Gardens in 1953. The zoo moved to its current location in 1958, and officially opened to the public on May 13, 1961.
I visited the Milwaukee County Zoo in early September of 2000. At that time, the 200-acre zoo was home to approximately 2,500 animals representing 300 species. Here are just a few of them.
This is the Caribou Yard with Barren-Ground Caribou, a subspecies of reindeer that are native to the arctic lands of Canada and Alaska. Reindeer are the only members of the deer family in which both males and females have antlers.
This is one of the three Grizzly Bears the zoo had at the time. Grizzly Bears are native to western North America and adults weight about 800 pounds. Their typical diet consists of nuts, berries, fruits, leaves, rodents and fish. The Grizzly Bear can run at speeds up to 30 miles per hour. Mother Grizzly Bears are extremely protective of their cubs.
Here is one of the many peacocks that roam freely in the zoo.
Elk are the second largest member of the deer family in North America, behind the Moose, and are native to the northern United States, Canada, and Alaska.
The Polar Bears have their own exhibit at the Milwaukee County Zoo, which features an underwater window.
Alaskan Brown Bears are closely related to the Grizzly Bear and to the somewhat-larger Kodiak Brown Bear, which is found only on Kodiak Island off the coast of Alaska.