All throughout the month, we would like to ask you to reach into your hearts and help the Racine Zoo make a difference for our animals. Our Animal Care Department provides essential daily and specialized care to over 300 animals and 75 unique species that make your trip to the Zoo so memorable. Racine Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which means we are held to the highest standards of animal care. For a nonprofit like Racine Zoo, it is a steep price tag to maintain this level of care. Show your love for the Racine Zoo animals with a donation and help us make the biggest impact possible this month!
Our goal for All In For The Animals is to raise much needed funds for the Zoo. Will you help us make this possible? A gift of any size makes a difference.
Because of our sponsors, this year your tax-deductible donation will have TWICE the impact! Every dollar donated up to $5,000 will be matched by RUUD Family Foundation. Thank you to our wonderful Zoo patrons and thank you for helping Racine Zoo animals.
Donate online below or mail your donation check to the Racine Zoo at 200 Goold Street, Racine, WI 53402. All donations are tax deductible in accordance with the IRS Tax Code.
A sincerest thank you for your consideration from all the animals and staff at the Racine Zoo. Your incredible kindness will go a long way.
Donors play a crucial role to keep our 100-year-old zoo running. Through the generous support of the community, Racine Zoo can continue to provide our beloved animals with the care they need. Our mission is to educate and inspire our guests and the community while providing an affordable wildlife experience that improves the bond between people and nature for years to come. In addition to specialized veterinary care, our animals need to eat! Our keepers craft specific diets for each animal to keep them healthy and strong. However, since the animals require food every day just like you, the cost adds up quickly!
When A Routine Exam Reveals A Bigger Problem
What started as a normal exam day for one of our resident Spider Monkeys, Emily changed quickly when radiographs revealed a mass in her abdomen, that appeared possibly consistent to a uterine or ovarian tumor. It was determined that a surgery was required to remove the mass that was suspected to be attached to her reproductive track.
Keepers and medical staff worked closely together to be able to voluntarily hand inject Emily with an anesthesia does on surgery day. She was transported to Hometown Veterinary Service where the intensive surgery was preformed. The surgery took ~3 hours to complete but was a huge success and resulted in an "ovariohysterectomy" to remove the "intra-uterine mass". The mass was removed successfully and post-op care started immediately including laser therapy on her incision site before she was transported back to the zoo for recovery and continued post-op care. She was happily reunited with Twiggy and Rosie the following day and has been doing very well since. Emily is expected to make a full recovery.
This is just one example of how the Racine Zoo Animal Care and Vet team work together to achieve positive outcomes for our animals.
Shaq Updates
As most of you know, we did have a new Masai Giraffe arrive in November of 2024. Since then, the animal care team has been working with him daily to get him settled into his new surroundings. While last summer was spent working on getting him comfortable with his exhibit, this year we have reached some huge milestones already! He has already made frequent trips out onto exhibit and is enjoying exploring his outdoor space. We will continue to work to build his confidence on exhibit, and work towards participating in encounters someday. Work inside is also progressing. New things can be scary, so when we see animals overcome something that is new, and maybe a little scary, it is something we like to celebrate. Just recently, Shaq participated in weighing himself for the first time here at Racine Zoo. This involved getting him comfortable in the training chute, then comfortable stepping onto a weight board, before finally putting all of the pieces together. We are very proud of how far he has come, and all of the hard work our Giraffe Team has been doing.
Lions Giving Blood?!
As animals age, like humans, continued monitoring of bloodwork can become more important. It was determined that more regular bloodwork would be helpful in caring for our 14 year old, female African Lion, Azizi. Lions in the wild typically live 10-14 years, while lions under our care in zoos can live into their 20s. Sometimes, drawing blood on large carnivores during sedated exams. However, through consistent training and building relationships, this can also be done voluntarily. For our Tiger, we do this from her tail. For our Lions, their set up is a little different, and we have been working on doing this from her paw. While this feet, once seemed impossible, our carnivore team has been working hard to make this possible. We have not successfully gotten any blood yet, but are moving in a very positive direction. It's amazing the care we can provide when we build trusting relationships with our animals!
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New, Cute, Ambassadors
This winter, we welcomed two new Four-Toed Hedgehogs to our Ambassador Animal Team. Clover and Wisp are sisters, and are now just 7 months old. During their quarantine period, animal care staff got to know these two, and started working on getting them adjusted to their new home at the Racine Zoo. Once they cleared quarantine, our education staff started to work on getting them ready to participate in educational programs. This involved practice being held, taking short trips in the education vans while monitoring behavior to make sure they were comfortable, and participating in short programs here at the zoo. Now, both Clover and Whisper are participating in offsite programs, and helping to spread conservation messages.
Purple Martins
If you visited the Zoo in the last year, you may have asked yourself, "What are those weird things next to the pond?" The answer? Birdhouses for a very special species - purple martins. Purple martins migrate between the Amazon and the United States each spring and fall, overwintering in the rainforest and making nests and raising chicks in the states. Through a long partnership with Indigenous communities, purple martins east of the Rocky Mountains only nest in human-provided housing - like the gourds we have at the Zoo! Purple martin conservation is especially important because, as migratory species, they act as indicators for how our environment is doing. When martins are spotted in certain areas, how many chicks fledge, and what martins are eating are all projects that orgainzations like the Purple Martin Conservation Association and the Wisconsin Purple Martin Association use to help us learn more about these songbirds, and the environment at large. Having martin houses at the Racine Zoo means that we can help directly contribute to those projects. While we are still waiting for purple martins to take up residence at our houses, this installation at the Zoo is a snapshot of the future of visible conservation projects.
Monarch Butterflies
At the end of the summer, monarch butterflies begin an incredible migration south, flying over 3,000 miles to a single forest in Mexico to overwinter. But how do you find out where the monarchs go? Through tagging! This year, the Conservation Education Team joined MonarchWatch, a program that tracks monarch butterfly migrations through small, lightweight stickers. The team trained a small group of volunteers to go around zoo grounds, catch, and tag monarch butterflies. These tags contribute data to the larger scientific community, and help us understand more about where monarch butterflies fly, take breaks, and come from during and at the end of their migrations.
The Community Outreach Zoo Initiative, or COZI, is a program that is truly special. Each month, members of the Conservation Education Team visit four different community sites with a story, craft, and animal ambassador. These sites focus on adults with disabilities and shelters, providing programming specifically targeted to these groups. Through mindful curriculum development, scaling crafts to fit the group, and choosing stories that connect to nature, the people that attend COZI programs get to connect with the Zoo in ways that may otherwise be unavailable to them. The Zoo's impact goes far beyond our 28 acres, and programs like COZI show us how important that far-reaching impact is.
