She was owned by 'Dolphin Connections' an attraction in Florida, owned by the same overarching company (The Dolphin Company) that owns the Miami Seaaqarium. She was on loan from Dolphin Connections for whatever reason, hence them needing to purchase full ownership.
Dr. Mike, is indeed a great CEO, a true ambassador of the Chicago Brookfield Zoological Society, its zoos and conservation work and ... first and foremost a very amiable, forward-thinking, approachable ab fab communicator and story teller! A true animal lover with a passion for his job and what CZS and its staff are doing both at home and in situ for animal and plant conservation!
It may be smaller, but from a husbandry perspective the new house is a significant upgrade: mulch substrate, more privacy, much lower volume levels, less safety concerns, a retractable roof to allow exposure to the elements, more off-show bedrooms, etc. Even with the outdoor enclosures the old gorilla space wouldn't have been appropriate as indoor housing.
That makes sense as from 1991 to 1996, Brookfield was involved in the Dolphin Connection. Some of my notes suggest they owned them at one point.
Great Bear Wilderness and Tropic World were part of Holiday Magic nights at least in December 2023. I distinctly recall seeing one of the polar bears napping at night and thinking how Tropic World looked different without the light coming through the roofs. I think Birds and Reptiles was also open but my travel companions were pretty tired by then and wanted to head back. Sounds like they've downgraded since then; I remember being impressed how much was open.
Most of this I'm previously aware of but the retractable roof seems new to me - that's pretty cool!
My suspicion is they realized they had an empty exhibit space they could use and couldn't acquire vampire bats quickly enough or weren't ready to make the investment so they went with the orb weavers for now and may use the space differently later on.
It was a cool decision to do this in the spring and it'll work as a nice bridge between the end of the winter season and the beginning of summer. Lantern festivals are getting more common but this'll be the first in the Wisconsin/Illinois area so it should feel pretty fresh for locals, I think.
Denver still has one. It might be debatable once their last hippopotamus leaves whether to still consider it a Pachyderm House or a Rhinoceros House, but I know up until the opening of Elephant Passage it held tapirs, elephants, rhinos and hippos at once still, and I haven't heard of any changes to the building. I hope to see the interior someday as it's one of only two areas I missed during my Denver trip. (I saw the outside enclosures but wasn't aware the building was open.) I think Milwaukee's new Rhino Care Center could be considered a 'modern' pachyderm house, given it will have indoor viewing for both rhinos and hippos.