Sadly I do not as she was behind a piece of signage. Also the birth of a Kirk's Dik-Dik was officially announced.
The baby was born on June 4th and is being hand reared. Here is the press release for those interested: Chicago Zoological Society - Chicago Zoological Society Announces Birth of Small Antelope at Brookfield Zoo
Updates from my visit yesterday. Because of the birth of a Kirks dik-dik, it looks as if the gerenuk have been has been removed from the exhibit. The royal antelope, which despite only being out in the summer was the only one on display in any AZA institution, has deceased earlier this year. Daily pangolin feedings and a keeper chat are being held at 4PM Chinese giant salamanders are still not on exhibit. Viewing for the pygmy loris exhibit has been improved, less panels are up now blocking the view.
The two 3-month-old male Amur leopard cubs, named Samson and Jilin (pronounced GEE-lin), made their public debut today.
I'm quite surprised to see this brought up again considering this occurred over three years ago! I don't trust anything anyone from this organization says so I'm taking this with a massive grain of salt. While the incident is very much unfortunate, PETA's real agenda appears to be trying to expose Brookfield's connection to SeaWorld and then proceeded to place blame on the latter. Though as far as I'm aware the zoo has been pretty straightforward about the incident, I really don't understand what "cover up" there is here.
What could the zoo possibly be covering up in this incident? And in the article it states that they want to know what the zoo is doing to prevent future issues which I find hilarious because didn't the zoo remove the exhibit after this incident?
Not really familiar with this incident, and I'm no fan of PETA, but it does seem prudent to know why they died and what could be done to prevent it. (most likely it would seem some sort of back up cooling system?)
Correct, the exhibit no longer exists but there are a few rays in the Living Coast building. The zoo has been very upfront about the situation, there was a malfunction that made oxygen levels drop and the exhibit in question, once more no longer in existence.
Not really news but I was able to see Samson (the Amur Leopard) out on exhibit. He's still pretty small, but not as small as SDZ's cubs when they were out. He's spending a lot of time in the shaded area which makes photographs difficult.
Hope to go soon. Excited to see the Amur Leopard cubs! Thanks for the useful information. P.S. I was reading past posts on this thread and I am glad that the zoo is making strides in conserving some species in more need of our help, the Addax (CR). I am hopeful in their breeding efforts of this species to hopefully increase their numbers. I am, however, slightly saddened with the loss of such iconic species (Warthog LC, Waterbuck LC). Last time I visited, however, I was able to witness the Addax partaking in an enrichment activity right next to the fence! They were consuming what appeared to be alfalfa out of the artificial termite mound, or something of the sort. Great experience that I hope I can see again!
Let me be the first to welcome you to the forum! I recommend you post a more formal introduction in the New Member Introductions part of the site, but it seems like you will be a great contributor either way.
It's been a long time since I've been to Brookfield Zoo and man, it has seen better days. For $14 parking and $21 single entry (plus a whole boatload of upcharge tickets) it really doesn't seem to have a lot of that capital reinvested. It's been 10 years since I lived in Chicago and the number of empty or undeveloped areas now are astounding. The good thing is there's a ton of room to upgrade and rework but wow, there are so many old buildings and wide areas with nothing going on at all. Here's to hoping Tropic World really gets those outdoor yards for the orangutans and gorillas - the old Baboon Island might be the biggest eyesore I've run into at any zoo I've ever visited. I always thought my home zoo in LA was terrific in places but needed a lot of work in others but BZ is beyond that for certain.
Has attendance dropped dramatically in the last decade? Are more people going over to LPZ these days? Even the North Parking Lot was a complete train wreck at Brookfield. Any inside story as to what's going on with ownership?
