Dane County  
Minutes - Final Unless Amended by  
Committee  
Henry Vilas Zoo Commission  
Consider:  
Who benefits? Who is burdened?  
Who does not have a voice at the table?  
How can policymakers mitigate unintended consequences?  
Tuesday, January 7, 2025  
8:00 AM  
A. Call To Order  
Others present: Ronda Schwetz, Joseph Darcangelo, Kristin Moala, Jess Thompson,  
Adrianne Bonow  
A motion was made that the Zoo Commission meeting be called to order at  
8:03am..  
6 -  
Present  
JEFFREY GUNDERSON, SARAH JUSTUS, MICHAEL PETERSEN, ANNE ROSS,  
JASMINE BANKS, and ERIN WELSH  
1 - TAG EVERS  
Excused  
B. Consideration of Minutes  
2024  
MIN-371  
Attachments: 2024 MIN-371  
A motion was made by JUSTUS, seconded by PETERSEN, that the Minutes be  
approved. The motion carried by a voice vote.  
C. Action Items  
ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS TO SUPPORT EMPATHY EVALUATION AT  
HENRY VILAS ZOO  
2. 2024  
RES-245  
WELSH, ROSE, KRONING and BLAZEWICZ  
Sponsors:  
Attachments: 2024 RES-245  
2024 RES-245 Fiscal Note  
A motion was made by JUSTUS, seconded by BANKS, that the Resolution  
Requiring 2/3rds Vote be recommended for approval. The motion carried by a  
voice vote.  
D. Presentations  
None  
E. Reports to Committee  
The zoo recently received two cape porcupines that are going to live where the previous  
Indian-crested porcupines resided. We are preparing to move several of our female  
meerkats to other zoos this spring as the weather permits.  
The open lead keeper position was just accepted and the new hire will be starting in  
February. That means the vet team and animal care team are now fully staffed. The next  
position the zoo will be looking to fill is a clerk III position.  
Everything is on track with the new giraffe building. The architecture firm should have  
95% construction documents for us by the end of January. Leadership is working with the  
new County Executive to get her up to speed on the new zoo non-profit that will be able to  
assist with fundraising. Other renovation projects scheduled for 2025 include the  
capybara exhibit, which will mean the capybara don't have to move to the Animal Health  
Center in the winter, remodeling the old penguin exhibit to accommodate an Arctic fox,  
and installing an all-season shade structure on the seal pool.  
Zoo Lights is now over. Attendance was down a bit this year, which was attributed to  
much colder weather this year. The event is still the largest fundraiser for the zoo and the  
operations team is looking at ways to possibly move some of the dates up for 2025.  
Jess Thompson introduced the education teams new outreach coordinator, Adrianne  
Bonow. She will be expanding education program access in 2025. The education team  
also submitted another ACE grant for 2025 to continue our work on empathetic  
messaging and amplify our community connections. We hope to hear back in February.  
F. Future Meeting Items and Dates  
The next Zoo Commission meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 11th.  
G. Public Comment on Items not on the Agenda  
None  
H. Such Other Business as Allowed by Law  
None  
I. Adjourn  
A motion was made by JUSTUS, seconded by WELSH, that the Zoo Commission  
meeting be adjourned at 8:56am. The motion carried unanimously.  
Respectfully submitted by Kristin Moala, pending approval from the Zoo Commission