2017 was a really great year for Brookfield Zoo. Multiple new species were put on exhibit, many new animals arrived and a great amount of births and babies. Here is a month by month break down at everything that happened this year. January: -A female baby orangutan born last December went on exhibit. -A male wombat named Darrel arrived from Adelaide zoo -A male red-flanked duiker calf born last November was named Omari -A two year old male California sea lion named Kodiak deceased -A female baby giant anteater pup born in November went on exhibit -A male Tiger named Foli from the Blank Park zoo went on exhibit. February: -Nan, a female polar bear, arrived from Toledo zoo and went on exhibit later in the month. -An Orinoco crocodile had a medical procedure done on her leg -The former Gabon viper exhibit began renovation for tree pangolins. -Two Humboldt penguin eggs hatched. -The former Tree shrew exhibit started to be renovated for pygmy loris. -A 30 year old California sea lion named Bailey deceased -Twin otter North American otter pups were born. March: -Female polar bear Nan was introduced to male Hudson in hopes of breeding. -Two female painted dogs arrived from Lincoln Park zoo. -A 25 year old California sea lion named Zuma deceased. -Multiple bat-eared fox kits were born. April: -A reindeer calf was born, the first in nearly four decades. -Another reindeer calf was born just days after. -Nakili and Layla, two black rhinos, were introduced for breeding purposes. -The Bat-eared fox kits deceased for unknown reasons. -Zeus, a male California sea lion arrived from the Milwaukee County zoo. -A male red panda, Fei-jai arrived from Kansas City zoo. -A male Grevy's zebra calf born in 2016 was named Huru. -A young male giraffe arrived from Fort Wayne childrens zoo. -A baby tree pangolin was born May: -A seasonal exhibit called "Dinos & Dragons" opened to the public. Featuring many animatronic dinos, and multiple real reptiles including a komodo dragon. -An exhibit for African Tree Pangolins opened to the public. -Similarly, so did an exhibit for a mother and son duo of pygmy loris. -A group of kingfisher chicks hatched. -A giraffe feeding deck opened to the public. -A new penguin experience room opened to the public for up close interactions. -Five Mexican grey wolf pups were born. -Male Red panda Fei-jai unexpectedly deceased. -Female polar bear Nan was introduced to elderly Male polar bear, Aussie. -The otter pubs born in February went on exhibit. -A male okapi calf was born. June: -The baby orangutan born in 2016 was named Heidi. -Twin binturongs were born. -Two California sea lion pups were born from different mothers. -The male okapi calf was named J.P. -The wolf pups born in May were named Matteo, Springer, Temp, Dave, and Jeff. -49 year old silverback gorilla Ramar went under knee surgery. -The woof-field gift shop closed down. July: -Maggie, a female kirks dik-dik went on exhibit. -A male black mangabey was born. -Female polar bear Nan was living alone one more. -The California sea lion pups were named Taylor and Lucy. -A royal antelope went on exhibit. -The zoos former director, George Rabb deceased at age 87. August: -A Schmidts red-tailed guenon was born. -Three rock hyrax were born. -A female harbor seal named Banda deceased. September: -Cockatiels went on exhibit in the parakeet aviary -A bronze statue of Cookie the cockatoo, the zoos last original resident who deceased in 2016, was erected. -A female African crested porcupine named Pilgrim deceased. October: -The three emus from the wallaby walkthrough exhibit, were moved to the Australia building. -The male okapi born in May went on exhibit. -Two female waterbuck deceased. -A wombat Joey born earlier this year, went on exhibit. -Another male tree pangolin named Worm went on exhibit. November: -A female giraffe named Mithra deceased. -Four pekin robins arrived from North Carolina for off exhibit breeding. -A pair of Lowland tapirs arrived from a breeding center in Florida. -A male snow leopard named Buck arrived from Philadelphia zoo. December: -Snow leopard Buck went on exhibit. -Male polar bear Aussie deceased.
I wonder what next year will hold for Brookfield. (I am hoping for a public exhibit of Togo Slippery Frogs.)
Some upcoming 2018 activities that I'm aware of will include: Lowland tapirs will be introduced in the pachyderm building. More pangolins going on exhibit, possibly even babies. The pygmy loris exhibit finally getting those ugly barriers removed. The possible birth of a polar bear cub(s). @birdsandbats I doubt the frogs will go on exhibit any time soon. I presume they are just here for breeding, similar to the pekin robins. I would be ecstatic to be proven wrong though.
Hopefully there will be some dolphin news in 2018. It seems about time to bring in a male for breeding.
This is my zoo, I really appreciate you taking the time to post this for us! Do we know what was the cause of death for the three sea lions in so short a time?
Visited today and there are no cockatiels in the parakeet encounter. If they were ever there, looks like they were not kept there long.
