The Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo (NEW Zoo) is a 43 acres (17.4 ha) zoo located in the Brown County Reforestation Camp

Brown County Reforestation Camp

The Brown County Reforestation Camp is an area of almost located in Brown County, Wisconsin. It has many trails and picnic areas, and is often used as winter recreation area.-External links:*...

, 11 miles (17.7 km) northwest of Green Bay

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

, Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The Zoo and Reforestation Camp together cover 1560 acres (6.3 km²) and welcome over a half million visitors each year.

The NEW Zoo is one of only seven AZA accredited zoos in the country that do not receive local or regional tax support for the zoo's annual operating budget.

History

The area of the pre-zoo was covered with pine and oak forests when European settlers began arriving in the 1800's. Intensive lumbering soon cleared most of the land and people began planting crops. They didn't realize that most of the nutrients in this ecosystem were contained in the trees. Once the forests were gone, there were no leaves or logs left to decompose and replenish the sandy soil. After a few years, the soil was no longer able to produce crops. Brown County acquired the 1600 acres (6.5 km²) area which makes up the Reforestation Camp when the settlers were no longer able to make a living off their land and could not pay the taxes.

In 1948, sparks from a passing train set fire to 80 acres (32.4 ha) of county land and destroyed what was left of the forest. This prompted the County Board to build an open prison camp and plant trees - hence the name Brown County Reforestation Camp. Beginning in 1950, Harry Barth, the first camp superintendent, and his wife directed inmates in planting 250,000 white pine, Norway pine, Jack pine, cedar, and spruce seedlings. This process continued for several years until the sandy wasteland was once again green forest.

During the 1950's, the reforestation camp became part of the County Park system. Ponds were dug for fire protection and recreation (fish were stocked). Hiking and ski trails were established. By 1952, bear, deer and timber-wolves were exhibited at the park and the Zoo was born!

In 1985, the county board decided to no longer provide money for capital improvements at the zoo. Since then, all new animal exhibits and major improvements are financed by the NEW Zoological Society, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, and by private donations.

Animals

Many types of native plants and animals can be found at the zoo, which features more than 92 exhibits with more than 215 animals from around the world. Animals at the zoo include giraffe

Giraffe

The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...

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Lion

The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

s, snow leopard

Snow Leopard

The snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of South Asia and Central Asia...

, moose

Moose

The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...

, elk

Elk

The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...

, bison

Bison

Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...

, prairie dog

Prairie dog

Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. There are five different species of prairie dogs: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah and Mexican prairie dogs. They are a type of ground squirrel, found in the United States, Canada and Mexico...

s, bobcat

Bobcat

The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...

, lynx

Lynx

A lynx is any of the four Lynx genus species of medium-sized wildcats. The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word "λύγξ", derived from the Indo-European root "*leuk-", meaning "light, brightness", in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes...

, deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, llama

Llama

The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times....

s, emu

Emu

The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...

, wallaby

Wallaby

A wallaby is any of about thirty species of macropod . It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been given some other name.-Overview:...

, alligator

Alligator

An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....

, monkey

Monkey

A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...

s, goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

s, zebu

Zebu

Zebu , sometimes known as humped cattle, indicus cattle, Cebu or Brahmin cattle are a type of domestic cattle originating in South Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent. They are characterised by a fatty hump on their shoulders, drooping ears and a large dewlap...

, tortoise

Tortoise

Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...

, snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

s, alpaca

Alpaca

An alpaca is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in appearance.Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of southern Peru, northern Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Chile at an altitude of to above sea level, throughout the year...

, and penguin

Penguin

Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...

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