After a successful Catapalooza last Saturday, it seemed fitting to share our fundraising success on this #caturday. We are proud to announce that through the hard work of our staff and volunteers and the generous donations of our guests, we raised..... $941 for big cat conservation! The groups who will receive funds from this event are the Tiger Conservation Campaign, Ruaha Carnivore project and the Saola Working Group/Catching Hope. Thank you to everyone who joined us last Saturday (and all of the other days!) to make a positive impact on wild cat populations.

Holiday weekend? CHECK! Projects planned? CHECK! Refreshing treat to cool down? CHECK! Providing enrichment can help animals exhibit natural behaviors. Our polar bear bouncing up and down on this ice treat shows how polar bears break ice in the wild! No tasty seal under this ice but our bears still enjoy the juice flavored popsicles. Stay cool out there and Happy Memorial Day, we will be open our regular hours on Monday.

Rendez-Zoo is coming up on June 9th! It will be an exciting night with delicious food from local vendors, great drinks, live entertainment, an exclusive silent auction, and of course, our animals! Check out our Facebook event for more information, or visit our website: vilaszoo.org/rendezzoo Special thanks to all our amazing food vendors including: Barriques, BelAir Cantina, Brasserie V, Brocach On Monroe, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream Co., CIRC, The Coopers Tavern, Everly, Fuegos - Steak•Tapas•Vegan, Gates & Brovi, Glacier Grille and Henry Vilas Zoo Catering, Graft Madison, Graze Catering, Heritage Catering, jacs, Johnny Delmonico's Steakhouse, Lao Laan Xang- Williamson, Liliana's Restaurant, The Looking Glass Bakery, Madison Area Chefs Network, Madison Chocolate Company, Market Street Diner & Bakery, NessAlla Kombucha and Pizza Brutta!

Who ate the lunch from earlier?...the ring-tailed lemurs! We have 7 ring-tailed lemurs (2 males, 5 females) who live in our primate building. Their diet is composed of primate biscuits, root veggies, non root veggies. By reserving the high-sugar (high value!) fruits as training rewards, they all maintain healthy weights and are more than happy to step on a scale for the price of a craisin. Ring-tailed lemurs are endangered due to habitat loss in their native country of Madagascar. 📸: Elise Gorchels

Which zoo animal is getting a lunch like this? Comment your guesses and we will share the answer later! #whatsforlunch?

We are so excited to announce the grand opening of The William T. Evjue Visitor Center, as well as new, expanded offices for the Zoological Society and a space for our volunteer group of over 600. Located closest to the Zoo's penguin and North American porcupine exhibits, the newly renovated William T. Evjue Visitor Center will be open seven days a week from 10am-4pm. It will serve as a central location for zoo guests to ask questions, purchase a zoo membership, and learn about event opportunities or how to get involved at the zoo. The building, which was constructed in 1915, is the oldest on Zoo grounds. It has been beautifully renovated by Ideal Builders, Inc. and was made possible thanks to generous donors including The William T. Evjue Foundation (The charitable giving arm of the Capital Times), The Rennebohm Foundation, Coyle Carpet One Floor & Home, Klein-Dickert Milwaukee, Inc., and Schultz Electric. Please join us for our grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony today, Wednesday May 23rd, at 10am! If you can't make it out today, stop by soon!

“Yuri” our male Amur tiger, is currently getting used to the sights, sounds, smells and new keepers at Henry Vilas Zoo after arriving from Michigan a few months ago. Keepers have been working everyday to help Yuri feel comfortable with going into the North exhibit. At our 3:00 tiger training session he stuck his head out into the exhibit 5 or 6 times as Keeper Katie asked him to “target” or touch the end of a pole. These repetitions hopefully build Yuri’s confidence enough to explore the exhibit outside of training sessions. After the session was over and keepers had left, Yuri chose Catapalooza Day to venture 20 feet along the back fence line!!! Great Job Buddy!

Lions, tigers and ....more lions! Catapalooza 2018 continues with a training demonstration with our African lion family. Zookeeper Katie shows us all the trained behaviors we ask the lions to do daily. “Up” is very useful for checking out the animals’ stomachs and pads of paws. If there was an injury or problem in these areas, keepers and vets could apply medicine or assess healing up close. “Ansel” is a rockstar! In the second picture Katie is showing Ansel the “all done” signal but he doesn’t seem to agree. More Catapalooza to come!

The Lion family (Pelo,Shakura, Ansel and Amboseli) are poised and ready to pounce on their favorite day: Catapalooza! Events start at 12:30 so gather your pride and migrate to the Zoo. It will be a roaring good time.