Lansing’s Potter Park Zoo Has New Residents
100 years ago, when they first opened, Lansing's Potter Park Zoo had elk on display. When things open back up again and we can visit the zoo, elk will be there again.
According to MLive.com, Potter Park Zoo had a vacant display after their Alaskan bull moose, Meeko, passed away last year due to cancer. The zoo planned to obtain orphan moose from Alaska to house on the 3 acre display pen, but there were none available. So, they went to plan B - elk. American elk.
In Europe, the animal we call moose are called elk. The Shawnee and Cree Native American derived word for what we call elk is "wapiti", but we still incorrectly call them "elk". In New Zealand, where they are an introduced species and there are no Shawnee or Cree tribes, these animals are called wapiti. I'm sure that clears everything up. Right? No? Well, moving on.
The elk, one male named Emmett and two females, Saige and Belle, are already at the zoo. Michigan has a very healthy elk herd in northern lower Michigan, but these elk were obtained from the Amber Elk Ranch in Ludington, so no wild elk were taken out of the herd.
I look forward to going to the zoo this fall to hear our boy Emmett doing some loud bugling. Don't know how the neighbors are going to feel about that, but...