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A New Place To Go Bananas

An institution will return with the opening of Macaque Island

By JACKIE LOOHAUIS
of the Journal Sentinel staff

Last Updated: June 10, 2002

Forget the Calatrava. Ignore Miller Park. Yawn at those $70 million
lakefront condos.

A really important addition to Milwaukee's architectural landscape is about
to open to the public, and early reviewers are so excited they're howling
over it. It's the latest incarnation of Monkey Island.

Nine months in the building, the Milwaukee County Zoo's new $1.2 million
monkey complex will open to the public Saturday under the name Macaque
Island.

Longtime Milwaukee residents, of course, have loved watching other primates
whooping it up on several incarnations of Monkey Island since the first one
opened at Washington Park around 1920. The famous island was the first of
its kind in the United States, a rocky paradise surrounded by water where
dozens of monkeys felt free to swing. Visitors couldn't help gawking at the
antics of the island society and the bully-boy escapades of notorious Old
Joe, rhesus ruler of Monkey Island.

A second Monkey Island patterned after the old one opened at the Milwaukee
County Zoo in the late 1950s. But the island became cramped and, after more
than 40 years, the monkeys' A-frame winter quarters couldn't be heated
efficiently. The new home for the zoo's team of Japanese macaques is
welcoming for both humans and monkeys.

Just ask Inky. Inky, a female macaque, unexpectedly became the first monkey
to set paw on the new land. The 27-member clan had been caged in the zoo's
hospital since September during the renovation. When they were moved to the
new indoor quarters connected to the island, keepers expected that Burt or
Reject, current top-gun males in the colony, would lead the tribe outdoors
to the new homeland.

But when keepers opened the cages last week, the first head poking out the
doggie door from the new building was Inky's.

"You go, girl! That girl is on the move!" Patricia Khan, area supervisor of
primates and apes, yelled as Inky trotted alone across the concrete causeway
to the island.

This was no small feat for a monkey, to plunge into an unknown frontier. But
Inky, formerly a lowly plebe in the colony pecking order, showed her true
grit. She taste-tested each thorny new barberry bush on the island, the ones
that experts had predicted the macaques wouldn't eat. She checked out the
two new waterfalls and the updated rope-swing system for entertainment
value. And she climbed the 18-foot heights of the new Macaque Island
Mountain, 10 feet taller than the old hill, taking time alone at the top to
strike a heroic pose right out of "The Lion King."

Only the new rope system failed Inky standards for swingability. "Inky says,
'They screwed up on the vines; they got tangled,' " Khan said.
But the new, exotic isle had an obvious allure. Before long, other members
of the group hot-footed it across the causeway to find out just where Inky
was vacationing, and there were huzzahs - not to mention "hooo-hoos" - all
around.

Old pro Scruffy, with the receding hairline, amazed keepers when she made it
up the mountaintop "without a winch." Kate, who had put on a few pounds over
the winter, slipped a bit going up the height of one of the new trees but
made it to the top after a stunning second effort. And one-eyed Vernon
caused the first dust-up between the denizens of Macaque Island, although
keepers weren't sure if it was politically motivated or caused by Vernon
accidentally tripping over a friend.

After the exhibit's official opening, zoo visitors can watch the monkeys
enjoy the pleasures of their remodeled home from a covered observation deck
outside the indoor monkey quarters. The deck offers a whole new line of
sight for keeping track of Inky, Scruffy and the gang.

This will mark a new chapter in the island saga that has constantly
enthralled animal-loving Milwaukeeans such as Marge Brossmann, a zoo
volunteer who has watched the doings on the various Monkey Islands since
1937.

Said Brossmann: "People from Milwaukee know Monkey Island. You ask the kids
when they come in what they're going to see, and it's Monkey Island. It's
unique."

Macaque Island  

http://www.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/jun02/monkey1061102.jpg

A Japanese macaque finds some shade on the renovated monkey island, named
Macaque Island, at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The project, which took nine
months to build at a cost of $1.2 million, will open to the public Saturday


http://www.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/jun02/monkey2061102.jpg       
The Macaque Island Mountain has two new waterfalls and updated rope-swings
for playtime. The hill is 10 feet taller than the old one, more of a
climbing challenge for the monkeys.
        
Evolution of  Monkey Island     

The first Monkey Island opened at Washington Park around 1920. The island, a
rocky paradise surrounded by water, was the first of its kind in the United
States.  A second Monkey Island opened at the Milwaukee County Zoo in the
late 1950s.  The zoo's Macaque Island opens to the public Saturday.     

http://www.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/jun02/monkey3061102.jpg
        
A Japanese Macaque enjoys the view from his perch in the newly redone monkey
island.         

Quotable        

People from Milwaukee know Monkey Island. You ask the kids when they come in
what they're going to see, and it's Monkey Island. It's unique. - Marge
Brossmann, zoo volunteer        

http://www.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/jun02/monkey4061102.jpg
        
Japanese Macaque monkeys get a head start on island life. The new Macaque
Island opens to the public Saturday.

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on June 11, 2002.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/Metro/jun02/50168.asp