Brookfield Zoo » Brookfield Zoo

okapikpr · 11-09-2008

Budorcas, welcome to the forum. Why dont you introduce yourself, what part of the US are you from?

snowleopard · 11-09-2008

The statement from Budorcas that "there isn't much of the current zoo that will stay the same" just goes to show how outdated many of the exhibits are at the Brookfield Zoo. The collection is vast and quite complete, and it does take most of a full day to tour the grounds, but overall there aren't a lot of outstanding habitats. I still say that the 2-acre mexican gray wolf exhibit is the premier enclosure at the zoo.

monomach · 13-09-2008

The other day, I got a good peek through a small crack in the privacy fence of the Great Bear Wilderness.

What little I could see around the construction equipment looks promising. The outline is obvious, as it's below ground level. It's exponentially larger than the current Bear grottoes, and they appear to be using some real trees in it.

Budorcas · **Introduction** 17-09-2008

okapikpr - sorry for the delayed response, can't make it on ZooBeat everyday at the moment. My name is Jon Wassner, I'm one of the co-authors of America's Best Zoos, which came out earlier this year and many of you own. Thanks for all the positive comments, it's good to know that it has been useful and enjoyed by many participants on this Forum. I've been watching responses to threads for a few months now, but enjoyed watching from the outside compared to participating myself. But I felt compelled to respond about Brookfield Zoo since I consider it my home zoo despite living in Indianapolis. I've been to Brookfield over 300 times in my life, so I know it extremely well.

There have been several different designs for Great Bear Wilderness. Some have shown trees in the exhibits, others show a lack there of. It would be a shame if there wasn't trees, especially since the area it's being built (west side of zoo, taking over Ibex Island and pushing back toward Indian Lake and Wolf Woods) is currently a forest. From what I've seen, there should be 3 bear habitats, 1 for polar bears, 1 for grizzly bears, and an extra which can be used for either. Considering they have polar bear cubs every 2 years, it's likely that the additional habitat will almost always have polar bears. The bison habitat has also gone through several designs. One, which I believe is what they are going with, has a tunnel passing underneath the bison paddock. They have placed importance on making a better than average exhibit for bison, since it is the symbol of the zoo.

mstickmanp - the outdoor gorilla + mandrill habitats are not planned for the near future. There is no specific timeline, but Tropic World is in good shape compared to other places in the zoo.

To expand on what both snowleopard and myself have already said - Australia, Fragile Kingdom, Pinneped Point, Birds, Reptiles, Tropic World, Pachyderm House, Bears, Children's Zoo, and African animals will all have varying degrees of renovations and improvements over the course of the next 15 years. This does not include the other necessary minor improvements expected on existing structures and additional public friendly attractions which will also take place.

There are many reasons for Brookfield having so many improvements at hand, some are needed ASAP, others they are looking toward the future and addressing those needs now. Despite the desperate need to fix a few exhibits, I'm glad they are taking their time in renovating the zoo. They are acquiring appropriate funds, through both self and private sources, so that the changes will exceed requirements. Additionally, they have a huge committee, composed of 50 or so people from varying backgrounds that have come together to plan each of the upcoming projects. The future is definitely bright - at least on the surface - for Brookfield.

Chlidonias · 17-09-2008

Storm forces Brookfield Zoo to close early for 1st time since opening in 1934 -- chicagotribune.com

Quote:

No calls for carpenters went out from Brookfield Zoo to build an ark during the weekend's record-breaking storm, but all that rainwater did cause the zoo to close its gates to the public much earlier than scheduled for the first time since it opened in 1934.

So much rain had fallen on the zoo by early Sunday that water was rising in the deep moats surrounding the outdoor habitats of large carnivores such as lions and bears. A full moat would allow those animals to swim out, so they have been kept in their indoor habitats since Saturday.

Brookfield reopened Monday but did not charge for admission or parking because several exhibits and buildings remained closed as water was pumped out.

Stuart Strahl, CEO and president of the zoo, decided shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening time Sunday to close, even though nine stalwart visitors were waiting to enter.

The zoo also had flooded roads, flooded viewing galleries for the dolphin, seal and sea lion pools, and flooded basements in some buildings. In some cases animals had to be moved, particularly small mammals in the "Fragile Kingdom" exhibit.

mstickmanp · 17-09-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Budorcas

okapikpr - sorry for the delayed response, can't make it on ZooBeat everyday at the moment. My name is Jon Wassner, I'm one of the co-authors of America's Best Zoos, which came out earlier this year and many of you own. Thanks for all the positive comments, it's good to know that it has been useful and enjoyed by many participants on this Forum. I've been watching responses to threads for a few months now, but enjoyed watching from the outside compared to participating myself. But I felt compelled to respond about Brookfield Zoo since I consider it my home zoo despite living in Indianapolis. I've been to Brookfield over 300 times in my life, so I know it extremely well.

There have been several different designs for Great Bear Wilderness. Some have shown trees in the exhibits, others show a lack there of. It would be a shame if there wasn't trees, especially since the area it's being built (west side of zoo, taking over Ibex Island and pushing back toward Indian Lake and Wolf Woods) is currently a forest. From what I've seen, there should be 3 bear habitats, 1 for polar bears, 1 for grizzly bears, and an extra which can be used for either. Considering they have polar bear cubs every 2 years, it's likely that the additional habitat will almost always have polar bears. The bison habitat has also gone through several designs. One, which I believe is what they are going with, has a tunnel passing underneath the bison paddock. They have placed importance on making a better than average exhibit for bison, since it is the symbol of the zoo.

mstickmanp - the outdoor gorilla + mandrill habitats are not planned for the near future. There is no specific timeline, but Tropic World is in good shape compared to other places in the zoo.

To expand on what both snowleopard and myself have already said - Australia, Fragile Kingdom, Pinneped Point, Birds, Reptiles, Tropic World, Pachyderm House, Bears, Children's Zoo, and African animals will all have varying degrees of renovations and improvements over the course of the next 15 years. This does not include the other necessary minor improvements expected on existing structures and additional public friendly attractions which will also take place.

There are many reasons for Brookfield having so many improvements at hand, some are needed ASAP, others they are looking toward the future and addressing those needs now. Despite the desperate need to fix a few exhibits, I'm glad they are taking their time in renovating the zoo. They are acquiring appropriate funds, through both self and private sources, so that the changes will exceed requirements. Additionally, they have a huge committee, composed of 50 or so people from varying backgrounds that have come together to plan each of the upcoming projects. The future is definitely bright - at least on the surface - for Brookfield.

Cool, now we have both Allen and Jon here on Zoobeat! By the way, the book is awsome and I can't believe I didn't know about you guys being here in the Los Angeles Convention Center earlier this year. I would have been there in a heart beat if I would have known.

Anyways...

Is great hearing about all the upcoming improvements coming to the Brookfield zoo. What's going to happen to the old bear grottoes? I wish the Los Angeles Zoo would also do the minor improvements across the zoo, especially to the C-shaped exhibits.

*MARK* · 17-09-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Budorcas

okapikpr - sorry for the delayed response, can't make it on ZooBeat everyday at the moment. My name is Jon Wassner, I'm one of the co-authors of America's Best Zoos, which came out earlier this year and many of you own. Thanks for all the positive comments, it's good to know that it has been useful and enjoyed by many participants on this Forum. I've been watching responses to threads for a few months now, but enjoyed watching from the outside compared to participating myself. But I felt compelled to respond about Brookfield Zoo since I consider it my home zoo despite living in Indianapolis. I've been to Brookfield over 300 times in my life, so I know it extremely well.

There have been several different designs for Great Bear Wilderness. Some have shown trees in the exhibits, others show a lack there of. It would be a shame if there wasn't trees, especially since the area it's being built (west side of zoo, taking over Ibex Island and pushing back toward Indian Lake and Wolf Woods) is currently a forest. From what I've seen, there should be 3 bear habitats, 1 for polar bears, 1 for grizzly bears, and an extra which can be used for either. Considering they have polar bear cubs every 2 years, it's likely that the additional habitat will almost always have polar bears. The bison habitat has also gone through several designs. One, which I believe is what they are going with, has a tunnel passing underneath the bison paddock. They have placed importance on making a better than average exhibit for bison, since it is the symbol of the zoo.

mstickmanp - the outdoor gorilla + mandrill habitats are not planned for the near future. There is no specific timeline, but Tropic World is in good shape compared to other places in the zoo.

To expand on what both snowleopard and myself have already said - Australia, Fragile Kingdom, Pinneped Point, Birds, Reptiles, Tropic World, Pachyderm House, Bears, Children's Zoo, and African animals will all have varying degrees of renovations and improvements over the course of the next 15 years. This does not include the other necessary minor improvements expected on existing structures and additional public friendly attractions which will also take place.

There are many reasons for Brookfield having so many improvements at hand, some are needed ASAP, others they are looking toward the future and addressing those needs now. Despite the desperate need to fix a few exhibits, I'm glad they are taking their time in renovating the zoo. They are acquiring appropriate funds, through both self and private sources, so that the changes will exceed requirements. Additionally, they have a huge committee, composed of 50 or so people from varying backgrounds that have come together to plan each of the upcoming projects. The future is definitely bright - at least on the surface - for Brookfield.

Hi, I bought your book a few weeks ago thanks to Snowleopard letting us know about it, its a great read so I glad I went to the trouble to track it down and Welcome to Zoobeat would be glad to have your input

Budorcas · **Bear grottoes and flooding** 18-09-2008

Thanks for your welcomes.

As for the bear grottoes, as far as I know, their outcome has yet to be determined. Since some of the current recreational space will be taken away for new construction, it's possible that this could be the replacement area.

The flooding is significant, especially for the basement of Fragile Kingdom. In that area are tons of small animals usually found in the Rain Forest or Desert buildings, including aardwolves, otters, crested porcupines, prevost squirrels, bat eared foxes, and more. That area is huge, so it also houses excess animals from other areas of the zoo.

Zoogoer2000 · 22-09-2008

Glad to see both Allen and Jon on Zoobeat now. I just was posting to say what an amazing job you and Allen did writing the book!I've read it about three times now and its so great that you guys decide to write such a fantastic book!Hope you have a good week.I haven't seen Allen on in a while so please tell him I said Hi.

CZJimmy · 11-02-2009

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Long queue for Chicago zoo jobs

(Not sure if the accompanying video will play for people in the US)

Budorcas · **Wombat baby** 27-02-2009

This is the second wombat baby born at the zoo in the last few years. At 34 years old, Carver (the father) is the world's oldest wombat. The mom (Kambora) is 8.

Baby Wombat

Kifaru Bwana · 27-02-2009

Congrats. If I am correct, Brookfield has had a long history of breeding wombats. To my mind, it is the only zoo or among the very few zoos that breed the species worldwide?

Ituri · 27-02-2009

San Diego has bred them in the past.

groundskeeper24 · 27-02-2009

Despite exhibit shortcomings, Brookfield has a terrific collection and lots of space to utilize. I first went ther when I was young and have always had high regard for it. I go to Chicago every August to attend a big music festival and hope that the new bear exhibits are up and running by then.

Habitat Africa is a favorite of mine there as well, especially the forest. It's the only place I've seen an outdoor lungfish exhibit where they are able to come on land.

Anyone know if the hartebeest are still there? Haven't seen them on the site and wasn't sure if they'd gotten rid of them. They are some very impressive antelope.

Ungulate · 28-02-2009

To my knowledge, Brookfield has not held hartebeest since the early 1970s. More recently, they had a few male topi, the last one of which passed away a couple of years ago.

	Forums RSS Feed
	Photos RSS Feed
	Twitter Updates
	Facebook Page

»	More RSS and Subscription Options

Members	1,898
Members Online Now	22
Guests Online Now	57
Users Recently Active	618
Forum Threads	76,942
Forum Posts	135,573
Photos	49,855
Zoos	737
Countries	70
Webcams	79
» more statistics