It appears that construction has begun on the area surrounding baboon island due to it being closed off by chainlink. A Philippine mantis has been put on exhibit in Feathers and Scales. The wattled curassows have also been moved to feathers and scales. The living coast has a few new fish species in the cownose Ray tank and the Great Lakes tank.
Don’t exactly remember the species, I’ll check next time I’m there. The Philippine Mantis is housed in an exhibit directly above the Leopard Tortoises
I'm reasonably sure it replaced one of the two Jamaican Boa exhibits on the south wall of the center portion of the building.
I wonder what the long term plan for dolphins is at Brookfield. Seems they should move in breeding male or AI soon if they plan to continue.
Baboon Island is being demolished and replaced with the Hamill Family Foundation Nature & Science Plaza. Expected to be completed in fall of 2019. I don't know any details for sure, but I have been told by a few zoo employees that no animals will be part of the new construction.
This is very exciting for me. Even though no animals will be part of the new area, it's a step in the right direction for the zoo. It's taking out the biggest eyesore in the whole park and replacing it with something fresh and modern. If what a keeper told me earlier this year is true, outdoor gorilla and orangutan exhibits will follow after the plaza is complete. I look forward to some official talk of what's to come.
What is the status of a potential future elephant exhibit at Brookfield? Have they officially stated that they will no longer be pursuing that?
It's apparently still in the long term plans to eventually bring back elephants, but it won't happen for many more years to come and it's not a priority especially with Milwaukee County zoo, just a few hours, north opening a new elephant exhibit this Spring. The zoo also doesn't exactly have the best funding at the moment for major new exhibits so don't expect anything official about elephants any time soon.
Today was a grey, dreary, generally very melancholy visit to the zoo. The sky was gray, the pathways were wet and cracked, the flags were hoisted half way down out of respect for fallen officer Conrad Gary. The zoo was so empty that I counted less than 50 cars in the lot when I arrived. Going through a completely empty Tropic world void of crowds is an eerie experience. Despite this, I do have a few notes of interest. Baboon island is history! The biggest eyesore in the zoo has been destroyed in preparation for the new Hamil Family science and nature plaza coming next year. While again no new animal exhibits will be constructed, there will be a space for animal ambassador presentations, akin to the other Hamil family attractions. Photos of the demolition will come momentarily. There are some new rock landscapes in the bison yard, not sure what they are for exactly. The log that the pangolin sleeps in 95% of the time has been moved for a much easier viewing than before. A lego zoo exhibit will open in May 2019.
I'm just quoting this to second the notion it's unlikely any time soon. I recall that the Master Plan's elephant concept being part of an incredibly ambitious and expensive plan to retheme most of the north middle section of the zoo into an African safari area, including new heabitats for the other paychyderm species and the lions. Demolishing Pachyderm House alone for any kind of construction would be a massive and pricey undertaking, much less the Hoofstock Paddocks and Australia House, all of which contain plenty of charismatic species on their own, the loss of which would probably cost the zoo during the years of construction. It would also probably disrupt access to the existing Habitat Africa areas if they aren't closed in the meantime entirely. The fact the zoo's main plan right now is to build outdoor habitats from the existing Tropic World building should say a lot about how much ambition and expense they can afford right now. It's the right decision at the right time, and we should all be happy to finally allow more space for the apes to roam, access to the oudoors and probably better viewing for visitors as well, but it says a lot that Brookfield is being forced to build out from an existing exhibit rather than perform a full renovation. I look forward to the final result immensely all the same! Have they really finally taken down the former Bear Grottos? I'm joking, Baboon Island is a bit worse as it's harder to cover up or hide, but I always think of the Grottos because they've been emptier a good while longer.
Snow leopards Buck and Malaya are together for breeding season. Keeper said they bred a couple weeks ago, but they don't expect anything successful until March (assuming Malaya goes back into estrous). Nan polar bear is still behind the scenes. Really hoping for a cub or two, and I don't expect we'll hear anything until either the zoo mentions something or if Nan returns back on exhibit within the next month. I can imagine keepers would have to keep things hush-hush if Nan has indeed given birth.
