Wolf Woods

The Milwaukee County Zoo is bringing a pack of timber wolves to the former Arctic Wolf Woods exhibit and boardwalk. A $250,000 renovation of the exhibit, which opens to the public on Saturday, July 17, 1999 was funded by the Zoological Society of Milwaukee County.

In the past, visitors to the Zoo made Wolf Woods a favorite exhibit. The Zoo has upgraded the current display and brought in the five young timber wolves, born on April 28, 1999 from the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minnesota. Their mom, Keisha, is 5 years old. Dad Galileo is 6. The pups will arrive at the Zoo on July 1, 1999 to bond with their new environment.

This new environment includes a waterfall cascading into a stream that flows into a small pond. New foliage, landscaping and a new den also add to this wilderness area. Further, the exhibit includes a large log cabin with colorful displays telling the story of wolves in Wisconsin. This cabin will be heated during the winter months. Most intriguing of all is an eye-level viewing window, where wolves may come right up to the glass.

Along the winding boardwalk just east of the log cabin through Wolf Woods, visitors will discover the Ray and Florence Folkman Wolf Woods Overlook, which provides a close-up view of the actual wolf den, plus an "outdoor classroom" describing the importance of wolves in Native American woodland cultures. Wolves have a certain aura of mystery that has fascinated people for centuries and through these educational displays, the Zoo hopes to dispel or perhaps modify some of the common misconceptions. To the west of the cabin is a covered boardwalk and picnic tables.

For 13 years, the Milwaukee County Zoo housed Arctic wolves. The Zoo's last wolf, Nahani, died in 1998 at the venerable age of 15. The timber wolf, a subspecies of the gray wolf, has been re-establishing itself in Wisconsin, and the federal government has proposed taking it off the endangered species list and yet still giving them a protected status.