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So far kganfield has created 28 entries.

Monorail Memories: Staff Think Back to the Track

Twenty-five minutes was all it took. To spin a round-trip journey from the American prairie to the Asian steppes to the boreal forest to the taiga. To watch animals roam in huge habitats. To marvel at the animal adaptations developed to thrive in the challenging climate of the northlands.

Twenty-five minutes a trip, for 34 […]

Thursday, October 19, 2023|Minnesota Zoo History, Staff, Treetop Trail|

Clip-Clop, Clydesdales: Caring for Animal Athletes

Ritchie isn’t so sure about the big green block in his barn. Flaring his nostrils wide, he chuffs and huffs at it. It’s not a hay bale or a bucket or anything familiar to him at the Farm.

Dr. Kyla Awes lets Ritchie take his time.

“Good fellow,” she says in a low, reassuring voice. He […]

Thursday, August 31, 2023|Animal Health, Wells Fargo Family Farm|

Flippered Friends in Need

The two yearling sea lions couldn’t even lift their heads. They were in a pen with two individuals farther on the road to recovery but were soon separated out for extra monitoring, Minnesota Zoo aquarist Nicole Williamson recalls.

They were her first stop each morning as she arrived for her shift at the Pacific […]

Indispensable Interns: In the Field, Wetlands, and Lab

Brendan Lewis has been sitting in the dark and damp of a forest for six hours. He’s wrapped in bug netting, swarmed by mosquitoes, and waiting—and waiting—for wood turtles to make nests and lay eggs. Once they did, he would scoop them up and bring them back to the Zoo. Here they would incubate, […]

Big Welcome to Binturongs

Say hello to the newest additions to the Tropics Trail: two binturongs! “Garrett,” a 1-year-old male, and “Felix,” a 9-month-old male, come to us from Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden in Indiana.

Binturongs are tree dwellers in the family of cat-like carnivores that includes civets and mongooses. They are omnivores who eat […]

Thursday, July 6, 2023|Animal, Tropics Trail|

Time and Talent: Zoo Volunteer Gives 10,000 Hours

Every Friday all spring long, Minnesota Zoo volunteer Corrine Smith trekked to the Wells Fargo Family Farm to check on one particular piglet: the smallest one in the litter. Corrine rooted for her, hoping she’d get her fair share of milk and keep up with their siblings. Every week she peeked in on the […]

Thursday, June 29, 2023|Volunteers|
  • Permalink Gallery

    Pig (and Cow and Chicken) of a Different Color: Heritage Breeds at the Minnesota Zoo

Pig (and Cow and Chicken) of a Different Color: Heritage Breeds at the Minnesota Zoo

Mrs. Tiggywiggle’s tummy nearly touches the straw bedding on the barn floor. She’s due within days, and her body shows it. Unlike bigger hogs, she is shorter, stouter, and without as much room for the piglets within her. That’s because she is a Kunekune, one of the smallest pig breeds in the world.

The

First 24 on the Farm

The Brown Swiss heifer arrived at the Wells Fargo Family Farm only two hours prior. She’s asleep after the intense experience of labor and delivery. Dark-lashed eyes closed. Black muzzle nestled between her legs. Her light-buff coloration nearly camouflages her in a bed of straw. Farm Keeper Gail Roubinek keeps close watch over […]