Milwaukee County Zoo unveils renovated penguin exhibit with immersive window

    MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (WISN) -- The Milwaukee County Zoo debuted its remodeled Humboldt penguin exhibit on Wednesday. It's the first upgrade since the penguins came to the zoo in the 1980s. The popular attraction is bigger than ever.

Walking through the Milwaukee County Zoo entrance, a new window into the world of the Humboldt penguins awaits.

"Cause there's a lot of stars, starfish as soon I see the movie, I see a lot of starfish around. So I think it's like Finding Nemo," Jehan Salazar said while looking at the new tank.

The newly renovated habitat is triple the size of the original, built in the 1980s. It's a $5 million project that started in March.

"A long time coming for this project. It was-- it was, you know, state-of-the-art back in the 80s. But, as animal care has improved over the years, our systems were lacking," the zoo’s executive director, Amos Morris, said.

It now features a waterfall and better cooling and filtration systems for the tank, which allow the birds to stay out longer in the summer. There's also a new underwater view of the penguins, a nose-to-beak experience at the zoo. It’s a viewing window where people can see penguins swim past.

The zoo's executive director said this upgrade will elevate the entire zoo.

"We want to position the zoo to be a major tourist attraction for the state of Wisconsin and for the community of Milwaukee. Our community is very proud of our zoo, and we want to continue to push ourselves," Morris said.

The zoo also added an underwater tunnel for the penguins to travel through their large tank.