Milwaukee County Zoo

By Darlene Winter, Elizabeth Frank and Mary Kazmierczak

From the inception of the Milwaukee County Zoo at West Park in 1892, the citizens of Milwaukee have worked diligently to make it one of the finest zoos in the country. Their tireless effort and faith were rewarded. The zoo experienced many firsts, including the first polar bear born in captivity in North America, and was home to Samson, one of the largest gorillas in captivity. Throughout its history, the zoo also gained fame for innovative exhibit design. The zoo has flourished through the cooperation of Milwaukee County and the Zoological Society of Milwaukee. This public-private relationship has existed successfully since 1910.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Jul 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781439646441

Darlene Winter

Darlene Winter has been a zoo docent for 12 years. Elizabeth Frank is not only a volunteer but also retired from the Milwaukee County Zoo as curator of large mammals. Mary Kazmierczak is librarian and information specialist for the Milwaukee County Zoo and the Zoological Society of Milwaukee. Most of the images in this book were provided by the zoo library, as well as the Milwaukee County Historical Society, Milwaukee Public Library, the Pabst Mansion, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Richard Brodzeller, photographer for the Zoological Society of Milwaukee.

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INTRODUCTION

The Milwaukee County Zoo began with a small herd of donated white-tailed deer in 1892. The Zoological Society of Milwaukee began as the Washington Park Zoological Society in 1910. For over 100 years, this public-private partnership has guided the growth of the zoo. Currently located on the western edge of Milwaukee, the zoo covers 200 acres and is open 365 days a year.

The story of the zoo and the zoological society is the story of Milwaukee and its people. German immigrants made up the largest ethnic group in the city during the zoo’s formative years. They believed it was important to develop cultural institutions similar to those they left behind in their homeland. Private beer gardens were found throughout the city. Several, like Schlitz Park and Quentin Gardens, contained animal displays. When the Milwaukee Park Commission purchased the land for West (later Washington) Park outside the city’s western limits, its long-term plans included a zoo for Milwaukee’s children. The Milwaukee Park Commission would be responsible for constructing animal quarters and caring for the animals. However, the commission’s decision that tax dollars could not be used to purchase animals insured that local citizens would be involved in any zoo development.

Early donations to the zoo were made by individuals. Later, local organizations, such as the Nineteenth Ward Zoo Club and the Citizens of the Twenty-Second Ward, donated animals. When the Milwaukee Journal featured the Washington Park Zoo in its Parks for the People campaign in 1905, fraternal societies added to the animal collection. The Eagle Aeire donated eagles, the Elks Lodge donated elk, and the Moose Lodge donated moose. These initial efforts led to the development of a citywide society. The Washington Park Zoological Society, incorporated in 1910, was founded by local small businessmen and professionals. A majority of the early members were either German immigrants or first-generation German Americans.

The story of the Washington Park Zoo, and later the Milwaukee County Zoo, is the story of zoological parks and the zoo profession over the last 100 years. Edward H. Bean was the first professional animal caretaker hired by the Milwaukee Park Commission in 1906. In 1924, Bean was one of the founders of the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums. Now called the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, it is the professional organization for zoos in the United States. Bean’s son-in-law George Speidel became director of the Washington Park Zoo in 1947. Speidel, with county architects and the zoological society, built a new zoo on a large tract of land at the western edge of the city.

The Washington Park Zoological Society, renamed the Zoological Society of Milwaukee, believed that a world-class zoological park was an important recreational institution for Milwaukee. They believed the zoo would make Milwaukee a more attractive and competitive urban area.

Otto L. Kuehn, the first president of the Washington Park Zoological Society, obtained many of the important animals for the zoo in the early part of the 20th century. Kuehn’s business connections in Europe were responsible for bringing Sultana, the bear who made Milwaukee famous, to the zoo. He conceived the zoological society’s Hippo in a Week campaign, which purchased Jacob the hippo from Carl Hagenbeck. Kuehn passed his interest in the zoo and society to his son, Otto R. Kuehn.

Otto R. Kuehn advocated moving the zoo out of Washington Park after World War II. As a member of the society board and chair of the Greater Milwaukee Committee’s New Zoo Committee, Kuehn worked with Speidel to insure that the Milwaukee County Zoo would become the model for zoos in the United States.

The new Milwaukee County Zoo held its official opening in May 1961. Located near two major highways, the zoo had 25 acres of parking to accommodate the families moving from the central city into the suburbs. The new state-of-the-art exhibits and the extensive grounds positioned the zoo to meet the economic and legislative challenges that urban zoos faced in the 1970s and 1980s. As Milwaukee County’s other financial obligations increased, the zoological society focused its efforts on helping the zoo maintain its reputation as a world-class zoo by funding the children’s zoo and the education department.

Federal legislation, such as the Endangered Species Act, and treaties, like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, profoundly affected the operation of the nation’s zoos. Both the zoo and the zoological society renewed their commitments to education and conservation. Through participation in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plans, the nation’s zoos reduced the number of animals obtained from the wild. Solving problems related to care of animals in captivity naturally led to conservation research in the wild. The conservation efforts featured in the last chapter are a sample of the many local, state, and international projects sponsored by the zoo and the zoological society.

Today, the Milwaukee County Zoo and the Zoological Society of Milwaukee continue their public-private partnership, which makes Milwaukee justifiably proud. The photographs in this volume celebrate that rich