A new exhibit at the Henry Vilas Zoo plans to bring home two badgers, named after University of Wisconsin basketball standouts, to pay tribute to Wisconsin’s mining history and university.
The zoo on Wednesday announced a new campaign, “Bring Bucky Home,” to raise funding for a new exhibit the zoo hopes to open in fall 2016. Upon its completion, the exhibit will be home to the two new badgers — Kaminsky and Dekker — and sandhill cranes that can’t be returned to the wild.
It will also feature an interactive mining attraction for children and story walls on Wisconsin state history, mining and sandhill cranes, Henry Vilas Zoo spokesperson Emily Lundquist said.
Vilas Zoo planning to open a Badgers exhibit this fall. The badgers names are Kaminsky and Dekker. pic.twitter.com/AHBCyT00L0
— jeremy nichols (@jernichols) April 6, 2016
The campaign’s goal is to raise $650,000 for the new exhibit, Lundquist said. In addition, the zoo announced a matching gift challenge of $125,000 provided by Pam and George Hamel and Hamel Family Wines.
“We are relying on the help of the community to hopefully raise the [rest of the] money needed for the exhibit,” Lundquist said.
You've made it, @FSKPart3 & @dekker. https://t.co/PikthIfBjl
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) April 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/dekker/status/717805994886074368
Kaminsky and Dekker, were donated to the zoo after they were rescued, Lundquist said. The names had been given to the badgers by their rescuer after he found them when the UW men’s basketball team made it to the Sweet 16 game of the NCAA tournament last year.
