Milwaukee County Zoo Wild Connections behind the scenes tours

Amy Schwabe | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

If she could, Amanda Ista, a zookeeper at the Milwaukee County Zoo, would make sure every visitor to the zoo got a personalized tour from one of the keepers.

Why? Because a chance to get up close and personal with the animals is awesome? Yes.

But also because the zoo is more than just a fun place to go. Its main purpose is to support and educate about animal conservation.

"One-on-one connections are so important," Ista said. "Small group tours are catching on at zoos because that's how we build that generation of people that care enough about the animals to help us help them."

Of course, a one-on-one tour for each guest isn't possible.

"Oh, well, life goals," Ista said, laughing.

This summer, Ista got a little closer to that life goal by working with the zoo's curators to develop the Wild Connections tours.

Currently, there are seven behind-the-scenes tours of different animal exhibits. Ista said that number will be adjusted as they learn what visitors are most interested in and which animals are best suited for these types of interactions.

Angela Peterson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"When we decided to do these tours, we knew people would love them," Ista said. "But we had to make sure the animals stay comfortable. So, we asked ourselves, 'What animals would love this?' We know our tigers love attention. If Kash (the zoo's 2-year-old Amur tiger) had visitors back there all the time, he would love it."

Meeting the tigers

In developing the tours, Ista and the curators also wanted to make sure to choose keepers who would be excited to bring visitors behind the scenes. And the zoo's big cat keepers, Ryan Taylor and Sheri Guay, are just as excited as Kash to take people on the tour that is so far the most popular.

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"Our tours are on Fridays and Sundays, and they started in June, and we've been booked for every tour," said Taylor.

Guay agreed. "Is it bad to say we're winning?" she said, laughing.

The "Earn your (tiger) stripes" tour begins where the magic happens, according to Guay — in the big cat kitchen. There are refrigerators that hold the ground meats the big cats eat most often, as well as the frozen blood-sicles they receive when it's hot outside. Guay also shows visitors the trays of whole prey — dead rats, chicks, guinea pigs, quail and rabbits — that are fed to the big cats to keep their jaw muscles as strong as they would be in the wild.

Angela Peterson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

After the kitchen, the tour moves on to the main event — to meet the tigers in their dens.

Safety is paramount, as the tigers are always behind bars, and a safe distance is marked with a yellow line guests must stay behind. Even so, the tigers are very close, close enough that you might just get sprayed by urine if you don't adjust your position when the tigers turn their backs on you.

"I get peed on all the time," said Taylor. "Honestly, it's good luck. Seriously, I win raffles all the time."

Luckily for guests, Taylor and Guay know their tigers well enough to know when they're going to spray, so they can warn visitors, while at the same time sharing information about Kash and his mom, Amba.

Angela Peterson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For example, Amba really likes the smell of perfume, especially Calvin Klein's Obsession. The keepers spray the scent on a plastic toy in one of the enclosures so visitors can see her up close. And it usually works, as Amba will come to where perfume has been sprayed and rub herself over the toy, much like a house cat does.

At that point, Taylor and Guay can show visitors Amba's skill at targeting — the keepers place a long stick with a plastic target on the end of it at different parts of the mesh and tell Amba "target." She places her nose where she's asked to target, and then she gets a treat. Targeting is how the keepers teach the big cats to move to different places, which is important when keepers and vets need to vaccinate and examine them.

Visitors are given the opportunity to ask the tigers to target as well. And most of the time, the tigers cooperate. However, Taylor emphasizes that sometimes the tigers don't play along. And that's OK, too. When Guay sprayed the perfume, it was Amba's choice to come to that enclosure. Taylor kept the door open to the enclosure that visitors can't get to, so that Amba was free to walk back there if she didn't want the extra attention.

Angela Peterson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

According to the keepers, Amba's son, Kash, usually does want the extra attention. He doesn't even need perfume sprayed to attract him to where the action is.

"Kash is like our 400-pound friendly baby," said Guay. "And he's a talker."

Kash "talks" by chuffing, a low growling sound that can be intimidating to visitors, but is actually a tiger greeting, one that he's very happy to express to keepers and visitors alike.

"He loves seeing us first thing in the morning," Taylor said. "So he chuffs at us, and we chuff back at him because it just makes you feel good."

Feeding the birds

The "Earn your (tiger) stripes" tour is the zoo's most popular and also one of the most expensive, at $75 per person.

One of the least expensive tours is also popular, according to Ista.

Angela Peterson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For $20 per person, visitors can go to the aviary, where they learn about Inca terns, sea birds from South America that are distinctive because of tufts of white feathers on either side of their beaks that make them look as if they have mustaches.

For that tour, the people, rather than the animals, need a little bit of training. Ista said she has her visitors meet her at the koi pond right outside the aviary at the beginning of the tour. There, guests are given fish food to toss to the koi. And they're taught the proper sweeping arm movement to use once they get into the aviary.

Angela Peterson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Inside the aviary, there are several species of birds that freely fly through the environment. For this tour, though, the focus is on the terns. Terns are seabirds, and, as such, they love fish. Children (kids are the target audience for this interactive tour) are encouraged to toss the fish high into the air because the higher the fish get, the cooler the terns look as they soar and dive to catch the food in their beaks, often flying right over the kids' heads.

These are the tours that are available

The Milwaukee County Zoo, 10001 W. Blue Mound Road, currently offers seven behind-the-scenes tours. Tickets are between $20 and $75 per person depending on the tour, and don't include zoo admission or parking. Times and days vary, and tickets can be purchased in advance at the zoo's website: milwaukeezoo.org.

Earn your (tiger) stripes:

45 minutes

Sundays and Fridays

$75 per person

In Big Cat Country, you visit the kitchen to see what the big cats eat and you can help prepare a snack, then participate in training sessions with Amur tigers.

"Tern" around feeding experience

30 minutes

Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays

$20 per person

The tour starts outside the aviary, where you practice your feeding skills by feeding the koi. Then you head inside the aviary to feed fish to the terns.

Birds of a feather

60 minutes

Mondays and Saturdays

$50 per person

Tour the aviary kitchen, then feed different types of birds, including terns, ibis and ducks.

"Meat" the carnivores

45 minutes

Mondays and Saturdays

$50 per person

Tour the kitchen in Big Cat Country, then visit the den where the big cats are fed, weighed and trained. Meet a tayra, an animal that's part of the weasel family.

Otterly Amazing North America

45 minutes

Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays

$75 per person

At the Otter Passage exhibit, keepers demonstrate how the otters are trained with a variety of enrichment items, and then you get to feed the caribou their afternoon snack.

Pollinators of the World

30 minutes

Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays

$20 per person

In the Small Mammals building, you learn how primates, bats and bees help in seed dispersal and pollination. You also get to meet a fruit bat and see a beehive and real honeycomb.

Scales & Tails

60 minutes

Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays

$50 per person

In the Aquatic & Reptile Center, you'll learn the inner workings of the 28,000-gallon aquarium, learn about the specialized diets of the different animals and climb above Lake Wisconsin to mingle with snakes, lizards and turtles.