Milwaukee County Zoo penguin habitat groundbreaking, renovation

MILWAUKEE - Construction begins this week on the renovated Humboldt penguin habitat at the Milwaukee County Zoo. To kick off this project, the zoo hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday morning, March 27.

The penguin habitat project is funded in part by a $3.5 million grant through the State of Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Tourism Capital Grant Program that the zoo received in 2023. Funding for the program was provided by the State by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.

Milwaukee County allocated an additional $1.5 million in funding from 2023 surplus sales tax proceeds to complete the project.

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The habitat is about to get a lot bigger.

"The rock in the back will still exist but the pool will come all the way out to the edge of the dirt here, so it triples the water volume for the penguins and with that we should see more behavior from the penguins swimming around and splashing," said zoo director Amos Morris.

New penguin habitat at Milwaukee County Zoo

"It's a long time coming," Morris said. "The administration planned for this work at the front of the entrance of the zoo for a while, and we were fortunate to get the grant to kick things off."

The Milwaukee County Zoo is home to a breeding colony of 15 Humboldt penguins and is one of only 21 facilities across the United States and Canada to care for this globally threatened species.

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The project has two children, Jane and Sam, excited.

"Well I'll have a lot more room and we'll be able to like, see the penguins more and it'll be fun," Jane said.

"And they'll live a happier life," Sam said.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.