This is great news!
Brookfield Zoo Brookfield Zoo News 2021
- Thread starter MeiLover
- Start date
Deserts Edge and Clouded Leopard Rainforest have reopened.
Is the zoo fully open now?
Everything except the Nocturnal Hall in the Australia house which should be open within the next month. The aviary in Reptiles and Birds might also still be closed
Lucky the dolphin’s cancer is being treated:
Docile dolphin gets cancer care at Illinois zoo
Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago is caring for an aging dolphin with cancer. His name is Lucky, and he's 500 pounds, mostly muscle, but still a very docile patient when it's time to be treated for squamous cell carcinoma. When the medical team at the zoo performs cryotherapy on Lucky, he opens up wide, as his care team uses big swabs to freeze the cancer in the back of his mouth. The zoo says the treatment seems to be effective, but treating cancer in a pool brings its challenges.
Docile dolphin gets cancer care at Illinois zoo
Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago is caring for an aging dolphin with cancer. His name is Lucky, and he's 500 pounds, mostly muscle, but still a very docile patient when it's time to be treated for squamous cell carcinoma. When the medical team at the zoo performs cryotherapy on Lucky, he opens up wide, as his care team uses big swabs to freeze the cancer in the back of his mouth. The zoo says the treatment seems to be effective, but treating cancer in a pool brings its challenges.
Both are now open.
Excellent. Have there been any changes to these areas? I was told there were some renovations going on in the nocturnal area and when I peaked into the aviary last time the sticks for the macaws were removed.
Sorry, I forgot that the macaw area was still closed off. No changes in Australia House besides some of the lizard species being moved around, waxy tree frogs having an exhibit, a new species of crawfish (can’t remember the species off the top of my head), an echidna exhibit in the main lobby, and a kookaburra exhibit returning after several years.
So the zoo is almost 100% open with the exception of the macaws. This may possibly be the best way to end this year of Covid closure.
At Brookfield Zoo, they have a 5-year-old female named "River" and a 4-year-old male named "Kuso." They are together for breeding purposes.
I wonder when they'll open all their buildings, because I want to visit! But I'm not going to go if the buildings aren't open. Milwaukee has all of their buildings open now.
Everything at Brookfield is now open except the free-flight aviary in Reptiles and Birds. Otherwise, you're good to go.
Well, that wasn't long.
The whole will probably close again, if I were yo guess.
Brookfield Zoo Visit Report, 12/22/21
Despite pulling up at the zoo just to see the notification from @Joseph G in regards to Tropic Worlds sudden closure, I had a very fun couple of hours at the zoo today. Not a ton of news but a lot I was to discuss.
Reductions in the Bird Collection:
First things first, the walk-in aviary in Reptiles and Birds has finally reopened. However, it was missing one thing. The scarlet macaws were nowhere to be seen and the various log perches in the aviaries front have been removed. I think it's safe to say they are no longer on display and while usually I would be frustrated at yet another significant species being removed, I actually don't mind this change. I loathe seeing parrots with their wings clipped in zoos with just a few perches to move on, so I am completely fine seeing this display removed.
Meanwhile in Feathers and Scales, I couldn't help but feel the rainforest aviary has felt more empty ever since the building reopened. In the past, I fondly remember sitting down and spending 30 minutes watching all the activity. Now, it seems really dead by comparison. To confirm my suspicions, I decided to check the most recent species list from @Zoological Point and see how the inhabitants of the aviary have changed. Here is how the exhibit was populated in 2018. The ones in bold are what's still there.
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Bananaquit, Blue-Billed Curassow, Blue-Crowned Motmot, Blue-Gray Tanager, Blue-Necked Tanager, Curl-Crested Aracari, Golden-Headed Manakin, Green Honeycreeper, Paradise Tanager, Purple Honeycreeper, Red-Capped Cardinal, Saffron Finch, Silver-Beaked Tanager, Sunbittern, Turquoise Tanager, Violaceous Euphonia.
That's 17 species in 2018. Now, there are only nine species signed with the eight I bolded plus a Venezuelan troupial. That means that almost half of the residents of this aviary have been removed and I am baffled why. There is no reason for this to be happening. Luckily, just because the birds are no longer in this aviary doesn't mean they are no longer at the zoo. I was so disappointed to see that the Andean cock-of-the-rocks were gone. However, my disappointment turned to relief to find that they have been moved to the other aviary in Reptiles and Birds. I would prefer to see them in the much nicer rainforest aviary, but I was just happy they are still around. I didn't look throughly enough, but I suspect some of the other birds have been moved around as well.
Other Highlights and Updates:
Birds aside, there were plenty of other things to see at the zoo today.
One good thing about going to the zoo in the winter, you have the place almost entirely to yourself! The peace and quiet was most evident while in the pachyderm house. A titanic building that has served it's purpose and is decades past its prime. It's become a fun pastime of the average Brookfield Zoo enthusiast to lambast the Pachyderm House at every opportunity. However, I must admit, the day when the building does bite the dust will be very bittersweet. Don't get me wrong, it has to go sooner than later at this point, but it really is a remarkable piece of architecture. To think it once held just about every single known pachyderm species at one point or another is remarkable. It makes it's current collection, two rhinos, two tapirs, three capybara and a half dozen tortoises feel sad by comparison. Of course that's not to say the building should still house elephants, hippos and the like, but I digress. Before we bid farewell to this building one day, I really want to appreciate what a significant part of the zoos history it is.
What's in Store for 2022?:
Going into next year I feel more optimistic about the zoos future then I have in years. Of course, that optimism is very dependent on what were dealing with in regards to the omicron variant. It's very much a wait and see situation at the moment and all we can do is hope and pray that this will blow over as quickly as possible. We have a new director at the helm, almost all of the zoo has been reopened, and a new master plan is in full development. Now I don't want to drum up false hope, but I will do my best to get as much information on that last part as possible over the next year. I feel obligated to do so after my 2020 April fools joke
. I may even make a separate thread for master plan discussion as I noticed this thread has become a bit crowded with speculation in that regard.
Apologies for my blabbering, just enjoy getting thoughts off my head and onto a document.
Despite pulling up at the zoo just to see the notification from @Joseph G in regards to Tropic Worlds sudden closure, I had a very fun couple of hours at the zoo today. Not a ton of news but a lot I was to discuss.
Reductions in the Bird Collection:
First things first, the walk-in aviary in Reptiles and Birds has finally reopened. However, it was missing one thing. The scarlet macaws were nowhere to be seen and the various log perches in the aviaries front have been removed. I think it's safe to say they are no longer on display and while usually I would be frustrated at yet another significant species being removed, I actually don't mind this change. I loathe seeing parrots with their wings clipped in zoos with just a few perches to move on, so I am completely fine seeing this display removed.
Meanwhile in Feathers and Scales, I couldn't help but feel the rainforest aviary has felt more empty ever since the building reopened. In the past, I fondly remember sitting down and spending 30 minutes watching all the activity. Now, it seems really dead by comparison. To confirm my suspicions, I decided to check the most recent species list from @Zoological Point and see how the inhabitants of the aviary have changed. Here is how the exhibit was populated in 2018. The ones in bold are what's still there.
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Bananaquit, Blue-Billed Curassow, Blue-Crowned Motmot, Blue-Gray Tanager, Blue-Necked Tanager, Curl-Crested Aracari, Golden-Headed Manakin, Green Honeycreeper, Paradise Tanager, Purple Honeycreeper, Red-Capped Cardinal, Saffron Finch, Silver-Beaked Tanager, Sunbittern, Turquoise Tanager, Violaceous Euphonia.
That's 17 species in 2018. Now, there are only nine species signed with the eight I bolded plus a Venezuelan troupial. That means that almost half of the residents of this aviary have been removed and I am baffled why. There is no reason for this to be happening. Luckily, just because the birds are no longer in this aviary doesn't mean they are no longer at the zoo. I was so disappointed to see that the Andean cock-of-the-rocks were gone. However, my disappointment turned to relief to find that they have been moved to the other aviary in Reptiles and Birds. I would prefer to see them in the much nicer rainforest aviary, but I was just happy they are still around. I didn't look throughly enough, but I suspect some of the other birds have been moved around as well.
Other Highlights and Updates:
Birds aside, there were plenty of other things to see at the zoo today.
- Obviously it was great to see the pangolin exhibit has been restored. Whatever temporary barrier was referenced before has been removed. I did not see the pangolin as the zoo has added a wooden nest box to the exhibit and it looked like he was curled up underneath a blanket. Would have loved to see him, but I'm just happy they are back on display.
- One of the most underrated additions this year has to be the white-throated monitor in the Kopje building. I loved this species after seeing some at Omaha for the first time a few months ago, and seeing a near fully grown one on exhibit at Brookfield is a great addition to the collection.
- Very pleased to see the Australia House open again. I am very happy to see that the kookaburra exhibit is populated again after it being empty for years. Interesting that an echidna is once again on display in the daylight room. Any idea why this individual is separate from the others in the nocturnal hall?
- That Hercules beetle in The Swamp is super neat.
- 2022's special exhibit will be Ice Age Giants!
One good thing about going to the zoo in the winter, you have the place almost entirely to yourself! The peace and quiet was most evident while in the pachyderm house. A titanic building that has served it's purpose and is decades past its prime. It's become a fun pastime of the average Brookfield Zoo enthusiast to lambast the Pachyderm House at every opportunity. However, I must admit, the day when the building does bite the dust will be very bittersweet. Don't get me wrong, it has to go sooner than later at this point, but it really is a remarkable piece of architecture. To think it once held just about every single known pachyderm species at one point or another is remarkable. It makes it's current collection, two rhinos, two tapirs, three capybara and a half dozen tortoises feel sad by comparison. Of course that's not to say the building should still house elephants, hippos and the like, but I digress. Before we bid farewell to this building one day, I really want to appreciate what a significant part of the zoos history it is.
What's in Store for 2022?:
Going into next year I feel more optimistic about the zoos future then I have in years. Of course, that optimism is very dependent on what were dealing with in regards to the omicron variant. It's very much a wait and see situation at the moment and all we can do is hope and pray that this will blow over as quickly as possible. We have a new director at the helm, almost all of the zoo has been reopened, and a new master plan is in full development. Now I don't want to drum up false hope, but I will do my best to get as much information on that last part as possible over the next year. I feel obligated to do so after my 2020 April fools joke
. I may even make a separate thread for master plan discussion as I noticed this thread has become a bit crowded with speculation in that regard. Apologies for my blabbering, just enjoy getting thoughts off my head and onto a document.
Happy to hear an update on my buddy! He moved there from the ambassador building not too long ago and I've been missing him. Can't remember his name unfortunately.
Joseph G
Well-Known Member
Aw man! Wish I would've known. My wife and I are in town for our yearly Brookfield visit and picked the coldest day of the 10 days we're here.
Going to add some additional comments from today and bounce some off of yours too.
Last time I visited, the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock were in Feathers & Scales and they did not seem to fit. Not sure when the moved happen, but was very happy to see them in Reptiles & Birds. It did look like disassembled perching next to the cages on the right wall, but I'm not sure.
How new is that little dude?! We couldn't get enough!
Really incredible after coming from the new hippo exhibit at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo a month ago, to coming back inside the Pachyderm House and looking at what used to be indoor hippo holding with a series of primitive shift doors and cement pools to hold such large animals. Same goes for the elephants too. I love this building with all my heart and it holds some really fond memories. Whenever it goes, I'll pay big bucks for a piece of it!
Back to hippos though, it's interesting to look at newer exhibits like Cincinnati and Toledo and compare them to the outdoor portion of what used to hippos at Brookfield. Both pools are enormous! It was fun to wait for them to surface and then see how big they were coming out of the water. Truly ahead of its time compared to some other hippo exhibits I've seen around the country. I really think of Cheyenne's as a modernization of Brookfield's and I'll always be happy they didn't do what feels cliche now at Cincinnati and Toledo.
Had a memory come back to me in the Living Coast, did they used to have penguins swimming in the large aquarium immediately before the wave machine? I distinctly remember them swimming up to the indented glass next to the seahorse tank, but I'm wondering if I made it up in my head. Pretty progressive to go for such an array of mixed species back then if I'm not misremembering. Any recollection from this crowd?
Also just have to say, great to find a group online to chat about this place with. I've really been rediscovering the zoo over the last few years and it's awesome to be able to revisit some of this stuff with y'all. Hoping there's a lot to be excited about at my childhood zoo sooner than later and looking forward to discussing any and all of it with you guys!
Mr.Ivory
Well-Known Member
When I visited back in October the Penguins were swimming in the main pool with the Kelp Forest and Moray eels