Zoo Happenings

Happy Labor Day!
The zoo will be open 10 am - 4 pm starting Tuesday September 7th.

New faces at Lake Superior Zoo!
The Lake Superior Zoo introduced two new animals to exhibits this week. Elmer, a 5-month-old muntjac and Penelope, a 4-month-old North American striped skunk have joined the zoo family.

Elmer's new home is with Ethel, a 9-year-old muntjac. Muntjacs are members of the deer family, but grow to weigh only 24 to 35 pounds, with a shoulder height between 16 inches and three feet. Muntjacs inhabit deciduous forests in southern China and Taiwan and, after escaping game parks, now live ferally in southern Great Britian.  Elmer will eventually grow antlers between 2.5 and 3.5 inches and small tusk-like canines of about 2.5 inches in length. Muntjacs produce sharp barking noises as a warning against predators or as communication between individual deer.

Penelope, the North American striped skunk, is on exhibit in the Griggs Learning Center at the zoo, but will eventually join another skunk, Petrie, in his exhibit. Penelope weighs only two pounds and will grow to about six to eight pounds.  Visit the new members of the Lake Superior Zoo family soon!

A backup causes Kingsbury creek to flood zoo grounds
Due to extensive flooding at the Lake Superior Zoo, it will be closed until at least noon on Thursday, August 19th. The following areas will remained closed until the end of the day:  Depot, playground and cafe.  Please call 218-730-4500 for more information. In addition, all summer camps for Thursday are cancelled. Please be assured that all precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of our animals and staff.

A Summer of Progress
This summer has been one of many projects, several being done simultaneously. Several areas of new blacktop were laid down; a greenhouse and compost bin constructed; a new floor installed in the main building; the barn and paddocks were painted; other painting completed; landscaping; new fencing installed and work on the wolf exhibit were some of the projects done so far. There will be many more projects undertaken during the remainder of this year.

While these projects are easy to see and proclaim as progress, we don't want to forget the people behind this progress. These people, both staff and volunteers, have risen to the occasion and helped make much of these projects possible to compete this summer. Our staff and volunteers took on these projects while continuing with their daily tasks and responsibilities. They were sometimes joined by other groups of volunteers or contractors.

Our visitors had to deal with some inconvenience at times, but for the most part, they recognized that these things needed to be done, so they took it in stride. Everyone here did their best to accommodate our visitors whenever possible.

We appreciate the patience and understanding of our visitors, and the dedication and hard work of all of our staff, volunteers, contractors and volunteer groups. Without the cooperation of everyone, we would not have been able to accomplish the many tasks and projects already completed and those that lie ahead. We sincerely thank everyone.