Milwaukee Zoo To Welcome New Elephant

MILWAUKEE, WI — In the next few months, the Milwaukee County Zoo will welcome an African elephant to join its current residents, Ruth and Brittany, in its recently opened Adventure Africa Exhibit.

This fall, female elephant Belle will transfer from Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in South Carolina to the Milwaukee County Zoo. Belle, who is 38 years old, came to Riverbanks Zoo from the Columbus Zoo in 2001. It’s the Zoo’s hope that Belle will eventually become integrated into a cohesive herd with Ruth and Brittany.

“We know how to take care of elephants that are getting along in age, and I think that’s a real service we can provide to these animals, and a responsibility we don’t take lightly,” Milwaukee County Zoo Director Chuck Wikenhauser said. “We understand this is a bittersweet departure for visitors and staff at Riverbanks Zoo, but can assure them that Belle will receive excellent care, and continue to lead a full, active and enriched life here.”

The Zoo’s new $16.6 million Elephant Exhibit transformed one-fourth of the current layout, and the 20,000-square-foot indoor Elephant Care Center features a recreation room with both sand and padded floors, five individual stalls for training and healthcare and expansive space for enrichment activities.

The 1.6-acre outdoor habitat features a watering hole, able to accommodate three fully- submerged elephants, feeding and enrichment walls, shade structures and self-activating shower. The exhibit’s goal was to make the habitat, both indoor and out, as normal as possible for elephant behavior in a zoo setting The Zoo will update visitors on Belle after her arrival to Milwaukee.