Visitors to Iowa’s Blank Park Zoo now will be able to enjoy a number of new animals that live at the Zoo. Topping the list is 409-pound Bronevik, a male Amur tiger that formerly lived at Omaha Zoo’s Wildlife Safari Park. He came to Blank Park Zoo with a breeding recommendation from the tiger Species Survival Plan (SSP).

“He is a big guy,” said Jay Tetzloff, chief animal officer at Blank Park Zoo. “Keepers say that he loves goat milk and is a cautious animal. We are really hopeful he and Misha the female tiger will become a great couple.” He replaces Luka who went to live at another AZA accredited zoo.

Also new to the Zoo this winter is Bamboo, a nearly two-year-old North American river otter from Stone Zoo. She also came here with a breeding recommendation from the SSP. She joins Sassy and Fisher in the otter habitat. Sassy will time-share the outdoor habitat with Fisher and Bamboo as she is older and enjoys being alone.

The Myron and Jackie Blank Discovery Center is also home to 30 new Jamaican fruit bats and nearly 30 new birds. The largest of the birds is the scarlet ibis and the smallest is the violaceous euphonia.

Tetzloff recommends that you visit the Discovery Center before 11 a.m. daily when the waterfalls are turned-off to hear the birds sing. This is the full list of new bird species:

·         Emerald Starling

·         Snowy-headed Robin Chat

·         Golden-crested Mynah

·         Bali Myna

·         Silver-beaked Tanager

·         Spangled Cotinga

·         Violaceous Euphonia

·         Green Honeycreeper

·         Yellow-rumped Cacique

·         Black-naped Fruit Dove

·         Scarlet Ibis

Blank Park Zoo is open year-round. During the winter, you can not only visit the cold-weather animals of the zoo such as lions, camels, tigers, seals and sea lions, but you can visit warm weather animals like giraffe, rhinos, tortoises, penguins and many birds and fish inside the Discovery Center.