Stacy Wallin, Author at Miller Park Zoological Society

Red Panda

Physical Characteristics Red pandas are a rusty red with light hair on the ears and face. They have a ring tail and dark patches around their eyes. The tail is not prehensile, but instead is used for balance. They are nocturnal and crepuscular spending most of the day napping. Their claws are semi-retractable and they…

Animal Spotlight, Guanaco

Guanacos are large mammals in the Camelidae family. The family is made up of camels, llamas, alpacas, guanacos and vicuna. With a weight ranging between 200 and 300 pounds, the guanaco is slightly larger than the alpaca, but smaller than the llama. They can reach heights between 3 to 4 feet tall at the shoulders.…

A Week at the Zoo

Miller Park Zoo’s Guest Services staff recently documented what goes on behind the scenes at the zoo for a typical week. Some market research was also done to determine where our visitors come from. Buckets were placed in the zoo’s entryway to collect visitor’s tickets during the last week before school started. The results indicated…

A Look at South America

Since its opening in the summer of 2023, the South America exhibit has quickly become a guest favorite. The exhibit houses two Galapagos Tortoises, two Giant Anteaters and two Chilean Pudus. The Galápagos giant tortoise is the largest living species of tortoise and can weigh up to 900 lb. They are also the largest extant terrestrial cold-blooded…

Protecting Pollinators

Habitat loss affects many animals including insects that move pollen from plant to plant. If pollen does not get transferred there will be no seeds to grow more plants and both plants and pollinators would cease to exist. When green space is converted to land for crops, monoculture lawns, or planted with non-native plants, pollinators…

Putting Zoo Conservation

According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources more than 200 years ago Illinois was home to approximately 8.2 million acres of wetlands. Today, as much as 90% of the state’s original wetlands are gone. Several types of wetlands exist in Illinois. Most of them are in the northeastern and southern parts of the state and along the Illinois…

King Julian’s New Home

The City of Bloomington and Miller Park Zoo are excited to announce that King Julian, the ring-tailed lemur, has moved to a new, permanent home. The AZA-accredited Sunset Zoological Park in Manhattan, KS recently welcomed Julian to its facility with a goal of introducing Julian to two other ring-tailed lemurs, both of whom were also…

Earth Day at the Zoo

Earth Day has been celebrated on April 22 every year since 1970. Itis considered thebirth of the modern environmental movement. It includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EARTHDAY.ORG. It has evolved into the largest civic event on earth, activating billions of people across 192 countries to safeguard our planet. This message appears on…

Welcome to the World. Welcome to our Zoo.

The February newsletter discussed the Species Survival Plan (SSP) established by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in 1981. The program was created to help ensure the survival of selected species in zoos and aquariums that were threatened, endangered, or otherwise in danger of extinction in the wild. Forty-nine of the species at Miller Park Zoo are covered by the…

Making a Difference

In 1924, the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AZA) was formed as an affiliate of the American Institute of Park Executives. In the fall of 1971, the AZA membership voted to become an independent association. In 1973, the Endangered Species Act was passed to protect US species deemed in danger of extinction. The concern…