Meet Mira! Milwaukee County Zoo's newest female harbor seal
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee County Zoo is welcoming its newest member. Mira, a female harbor seal, arrived April 6 from the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa and has completed her quarantine period to make sure she's healthy when joining the other seals in the zoo's population.
Well, hello Mira! She's petite, she's curious, she's a little cautious, and she's been splashing around in her pools ?
— Milwaukee County Zoo (@MilwaukeeCoZoo) May 12, 2023
Mira is one and joins harbor seals Ringo, Cossette, and Leia and is from @blankparkzoo. #newbie #harborseal #MKEZoo pic.twitter.com/Ndg8BbCy3Y
Born Aug. 7, 2021, to parents Ross and Meru, Mira resided in the Hub Harbor Seal and Sea Lion habitat at the Blank Park Zoo with her parents and two female sea lions, Zoey and Meatball. Interestingly, Ross and Meru had one other surviving offspring, a male, and he now lives at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska with Milo, a harbor seal pup born at MCZ.
According to a news release, Mira knows several behaviors, with cues from her zookeepers, Mira can lay still, follow, stand on a scale for weight checks, and allow care staff to touch her entire body. She also learned how to allow for voluntary medical injections and crating for transport purposes. Keepers describe Mira as curious but cautious, and that she enjoys interacting with zoo guests through underwater exhibit windows.
Keepers describe Mira as very petite with a small head and face. Her body size is not much bigger than MCZ’s 1-year-old female, Leia, even though Mira is almost a year older.
Mira’s favorite game is playing with water from a running hose, and she liked to explore all the indoor and outdoor quarantine space and splash in her saltwater children’s pool. Very recently Mira moved to her outdoor habitat where she ventured into the outdoor pool as Leia, Cossette. and Ringo, already in the pool, intently watched her make a small-splash entrance!
It’s the zoo’s hope that once Mira is old enough, she will breed with wild-born male, Ringo. Keepers say the addition of Mira will be beneficial for Leia, both as a companion and playmate.
The zoo currently houses three harbor seals: adults Ringo and Cossette and youngster Leia.
