Hannah Kirby
The rhino has spoken.
Without a resident groundhog, the Milwaukee County Zoo had an eastern black rhino – one of its newest residents – handle its Groundhog Day prediction this year.
According to non-scientific tradition, if a groundhog emerges from its den on Feb. 2 and sees its shadow, it'll return to its burrow for six more weeks of winter. If it's a cloudy day and it doesn't see its shadow, there will be an early spring.
Rhino Kianga predicted "cloudy skies and an early spring forecast," the zoo posted on social media before 8:45 a.m. Feb. 2.
The zoo shared a video of a cloud poster and a sun poster propped up next to each other. Kianga is seen waltzing up to the posters and nudging the cloud one.
While the Milwaukee County Zoo's Groundhog Day prediction had been a media-only event since 2021, it went online-only for 2026.
Is Kianga on the same page as Punxsutawney Phil? Nope, Phil saw his shadow. But Jimmy the Groundhog in Sun Prairie didn't see his shadow.
Kianga, 22, from the Racine Zoo, joined the Milwaukee County Zoo in October, along with fellow eastern black rhino Zuri, 16, from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.
They reside in the new Ladish Co. Foundation Rhino Care Center and Robert Dohmen Hippo Indoor Haven. Female Zuri and male Kianga have been paired as potential breeding partners via the multi-zoo Eastern Black Rhino Species Survival Plan.
After the passing of the zoo's last groundhog, Gordy, in 2023, Humboldt penguins were consulted for the 2024 winter-weather prediction, and in 2025, Nigerian dwarf goats did the honors.
Getting a new groundhog is not a simple matter, explained Bridget Carpenter, assistant curator of the zoo's family farm, in a 2025 interview. Here's a look at why that is.
Jim Higgins of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
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