I'm just now seeing this and it's a victory. The little guy seems very healthy, quite the curious one. He's in good hands with great parents in a good zoo.
Brookfield Zoo Brookfield Zoo News 2022
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I'm just now seeing this and it's a victory. The little guy seems very healthy, quite the curious one. He's in good hands with great parents in a good zoo.
A male Grey seal has arrived from Lincoln Park Zoo:
Watch now: Meet Brookfield Zoo's new grey seal pup
Fisher, a male grey seal pup born at Lincoln Park Zoo in January, has transferred to Brookfield Zoo. Lincoln Park staff had provided care for Fisher after his mother "did not display appropriate maternal instincts," Brookfield officials said. He joins 2-year-old females Celia and Peanut at Brookfield.
Watch now: Meet Brookfield Zoo's new grey seal pup
Fisher, a male grey seal pup born at Lincoln Park Zoo in January, has transferred to Brookfield Zoo. Lincoln Park staff had provided care for Fisher after his mother "did not display appropriate maternal instincts," Brookfield officials said. He joins 2-year-old females Celia and Peanut at Brookfield.
Five Mexican grey wolf pups were born on April 26th.
Interestingly, the pangolin ZooChat (name of the zoos keeper talks) appears to have been removed from the list on the website. It should still be fed around that time, although I'd probably contact the zoo to be sure. I haven't stopped by the African Forest house at 4:00 PM in a while, so next time I'm at the zoo I'll try. I saw the pangolin awake and moving on six consecutive visits by going around that time.
I'm hopefully headed there tomorrow, so I could find out.
Yes, the pangolin was fed a little after 4 PM. I asked keepers earlier in the day near the wolves, but they didn't know. At around 4:10 I left the African Forest House and passed some keepers headed toward the building, so I asked them if they were going to feed the Pangolin. One said "sure, I could do that," and told me he'd be back in a few minutes. I'm fairly certain that it is still the regularly scheduled time, although I recommend anyone visiting to ask a keeper in Habitat Africa: The Forest. After the feeding, the Pangolin was certainly active and I watched (And attempted to photograph) it for about half an hour. I'll post more updates soon.
On Friday (6/3/2022), I spent about 5 hours at Brookfield Zoo. It was a thoroughly enjoyable visit, and I was able to view just about every exhibit that was open except for the Hamill Family Wild Encounters, which I opted not to pay extra for. Here are some notes:
- Despite what it says on the website, all of the Australia House is open (It says just the lobby is open)
- The Cape Barren Goose outside of the Australia House were off exhibit, in what seemed to be the only change due to the bird flu
- Still just the male Tapir outside, the Pachyderm house was still closed
- Two of the enclosures in Reptiles and Birds had signage not working
- In Tropic World: South America, the Geoffroy's Marmoset was signed as 'temporarily off exhibit'.
- The Hamill Family Play Zoo was Free, and open until 4 PM (The 'modified schedule'?)
- Despite what it says on the website, Tropic World: Asia is not really closed, rather all of the animals in the main areas are off-exhibit. You can still walk through and see the Slow Loris and some of the birds are somewhat visible (And quite audible) in the high-up off-exhibit areas. With the absence of the Gibbons, Otters, and Orangutans, as well as the perpetual emptying of 'tragic world', I was able to comfortably go through the whole building in about ten minutes. Even, or perhaps especially, with the much-needed outdoor extensions, the indoor portion will need more additions and work as otherwise, it will only keep getting emptier.
- The Emperor Scorpion was 'temporarily off exhibit' in the African Forest House
- The Blue-Bellied Roller was active and vocal in the African Forest House
- The White-bellied Pangolin was fed and active in the African Forest House around 4:10 PM, as previously mentioned by Pachy. It was surprisingly large and was such a fantastic animal, I stayed watching it for about half an hour before it decided to go back to sleep in its box. Definitely the highlight of Brookfield.
- Butterflies!, the $4 upcharge walkthrough just had butterflies (And cecropia moths) native to the US, and it took me all of five minutes to walk through and find the eleven species. Which was fine because it was pleasant enough although slightly crowded in there, and I had not expected much anyways and paid mostly to support the zoo and conservation efforts.
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I have not seen the cape barren goose since 2019 and don’t think the zoo has them anymore. Unless if anyone else has seen them?
The building was closed Friday and Saturday (6/3-6/4) according to their website. Not sure why. Baby tapir won’t be allowed outside for another few weeks.
I was there yesterday (6/4) at around 4:20pm and the pangolin had not been fed and wasn’t active.
I thought I saw one them during my last visit a few weeks ago. However, I only took a fleeting glance at their enclosure and just assumed what I saw was one of the cape barren geese. It might have been a wild Canadian goose that I mistook as one from a distance. If so, that is definitely not my finest moment.
If they are off exhibit, I don't think it would be a result of the bird flu. The emu were still on exhibit in the adjacent yards, as was every other bird in the zoo minus the free-roamers.
They've been off exhibit since the pandemic began. Were the other tamarins back on exhibit? They've also been gone since Tropic World reopened last year.
The signage is Reptiles and Birds is genuinely awful and exemplifies why electronic signage is a terrible idea.
I'm going to Brookfield later this month and am obviously anxious to see pangolins. Messaged the zoo and they told me that they are fed at 10 am and then again between 3 and 4. So conceivably, if they were fed early, on the dot at 3, they'd be asleep again by 4.10.
It was signed as 'currently off exhibit', which gave me the impression that they were not permanently gone. I haven't been to Brookfield since 2018, so they were still there last time I was.
Yes, thanks for the correction, it should have been closed for just those two days so 'still closed' was not the proper wording.
I don't think the 4:00PM time is a set-in-stone thing, anyone wanting to make sure they see it active should ask a keeper in Habitat Africa! The Forest.
Interesting. I didn't see the emus at all when I visited, but I wonder why Brookfield was so comparatively lax about the bird flu.
No other tamarins on exhibit or signed. The squirrel and spider monkeys were the only monkeys in Tropic World: South America.
I agree, I have a strong disdain for unskippable rotating electronic signage. Having been to DWA and compiling a species list for Shedd recently, Reptiles and Birds didn't seem so bad...
Thanks for sharing this. It will be super helpful for anyone planning a trip and for us locals as well. Feel free to share your thoughts on Brookfield and the other Chicago collections if you'd like. I always enjoy seeing what foreigners think of American zoos.
I was planning to do a little write-up of my impressions of the Shedd, Lincoln Park and Brookfield (as well as St Louis and hopefully the World Bird Sanctuary, if it is worth making the drive for a single Pondicherry vulture? Their website is not the best). Not full species lists or reviews, but just general thoughts.
World Bird Sanctuary is loaded with rarities, you'll see more than just the Pondicherry Vulture.
World Bird Sanctuary is loaded with rarities, you'll see more than just the Pondicherry Vulture.
Seems to be only a 15 minute drive from one of the places I'll be staying in St Louis...
I would think it would be worth visiting if it's that close, regardless of what the collection is, then.
You'd think that, but will involve persuading one of my girlfriend's relatives to drive me, as I don't drive and we won't have a car in the US! Looking into cheapo Ubers.
Anyhow, off topic from Brookfield, sorry!