My Chicago Zoos & Aquarium Review

blospz

blospz

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
In the next couple of days, I will be writing reviews about the three places I went in Chicago; Shedd Aquarium, Lincoln Park Review, and Brookfield Zoo. It will take me awhile to compose all my thoughts and to remember the details, but here are some teaser details that highlighted my trip:

* At Shedd Aquarium, I was selected randomly to help assist a trainer at the Aquatic Show. I was able to touch the oldest beluga female whale who is currently pregnant. I also did some behaviors to get her to spin around, speak, and move her forehead. It was an amazing experience!

* At Lincoln Park Zoo, I was able to get to the pygmy hippo exhibit just as it was getting into the water. It decided to press it nose right up to the glass and provided amazing photo opportunities.

* At Brookfield Zoo, a couple things happened. First I proposed to my partner. I wanted to do it on our vacation in a special place for both of us. It was in front of the bison exhibit; I love zoos and he loves the city of Buffalo where we lived for a couple of years. He said yes. I was also lucky enough to see the baby aardvark go out in it's outdoor exercise yard for the very first time. It was amazing to see these creatures up close, no glass glare, and so active!
 
Sounds like you had a great trip, I look forward to reading about it in a bit more detail. :)

And many congratulations to both of you! :D
 
Congratulations mate! Will you have the wedding ceremony in a zoo?:) Haha! I look forward to hearing more about your trip and what zoos you plan to tour on your honeymoon. My personal thoughts: Shedd Aquarium is my personal favourite of all the great aquariums that I've visited, Brookfield Zoo has a number of outdated exhibits but is still one of the 15 best zoos in the United States, and I'm not a huge fan of Lincoln Park Zoo but the great ape complex and children's zoo sections are impressive.
 
SHEDD AQUARIUM

Before I go into detail about each section of the aquarium, I need to mention the attention to detail that is predominant throughout. The main building has beautiful, old architecture with modern exhibit designs inside. If you pay close attention, you see the cute accents. There are octopus chandeliers and lamps, marine clock, and engravings in the wall. Each section is quite spacious for the many visitors the aquarium receives. I remember going to the National Aquarium in the summer and it was hard to see fish tanks and to even walk with everyone around. Here I felt there was room to move, even with the abundance of school groups.

Amazon Rising is an immersion exhibit where you can see different levels of the Amazon River. You can see when it’s high tide, low tide, and the animal inhabitants. I cannot list of the variety of fish, but there were many, including some birds and small mammals. I do remember encountering one of the largest anacondas I’ve ever seen. There were great graphics and signage throughout.

The other remaining exhibits in the old section of the aquarium are Oceans, Local Waters, Islands & Lakes, Rivers, and Caribbean Reef in the middle. The hallways with these exhibits have fish tanks and terrariums on the three sides. I believe rivers had a camping section for kids in the middle. It was neat idea, but some things are not really needed, such as tents that kids are just going to end up damaging anyway. I am not much of a fish person, so I cannot even attempt to list off all the fish they have. Caribbean Reef alone has hundreds of them. I do remember the river otter exhibit, which did seem small, but the otter seemed perfectly content swimming around in its pool. The tank of Caribbean Reef is probably the most beautiful and there was a scuba diver in there feeding the fish. They have a sea turtle, but it seemed as soon as the scuba diver came in, it decided to hide its head under a rock like an ostrich you see in cartoons. Wild Reef is another exhibit in this area, but there was a huge line when we went so did not end up seeing it. That consisted of sharks.

We decided to get the city pass so we were able to see the 4-D movie and Aquatic Show. We had two choices for the 4-D movie; Planet Earth or Happy Feet. We chose Planet Earth, even though I have the box set at home. However, it was neat to see it in 4-D and on a big screen. We also had other elements like rumbling in our seats, water sprayed on us, and the funniest was the stab in the back when the shark bit into the seal in slow motion.

Abbott Oceanarium was my favorite part of the aquarium. I do not mind looking at fish, but they are not my first choice in animal viewing. So seeing mammals and birds is what I really look forward to when I go to an aquarium. I loved seeing the cliffs, pine trees, and great lighting. Going down the first set of stairs you encounter the beluga whale and sea lion exhibit. On the day I visited, the Pacific white bellied dolphins were in this area. Their second pool was closed off and staff was monitoring the pregnant dolphin. It took me awhile to realize the switch, even after I was told. I kept thinking, “The beluga whales have so much room, why did people say their exhibit was small?” Well, it’s nice that they can occasional rotate. The sea lion exhibit was indeed cramped. However, team tapir asked an employee about the exhibit; they rotate their sea lions and there are two large pools in their holding area.

We went downstairs to see the underwater viewing of the dolphins and beluga whales. The play area for children seemed really cute and I wish I went back to the penguin section to try on a penguin costume. The penguin exhibit was average, but they were all very active. I did not stay in this area for too long as the beluga whales caught my attention. Going further down the hall, you get underwater viewing of the sea otters. The exhibit may seem small horizontally, but they do have a deep pool to swim down. Team tapir asked the aquarist about this exhibit and she said they have six otters total, and three rotate going on display. There was also a touch tank and I felt horrible for the employee supervising the area as she had to tell kids not to pick up the creatures constantly.

The Aquatic Show has a good amount of seating, a large pool, and a screen background that changes throughout the show. We wanted a seat in the middle, but they were reserved for groups. So we reluctantly sat off to the side. Little did we know we picked the right seats for that show. An employee came to sit down next to us, my fiancé being the closest to him and he said hello. I did not think much of it and did my normal thing of having my fiancé talk to him as I kept to myself. However he then told us, “So I am a part of the show today and I need help for it. Which one of you would like to come with me and do some behaviors with the beluga whales?” Of course it would be a dream of mine, but I must have been in a selfless mode because I thought, “Well my fiancé talked to him first and maybe he would enjoy it.” However he looked at me knowing I wanted to do it and gave me the approval to do so. I headed to the back room as Patrick, the employee, asked me question. I put some boots on, washed my hands and we made small talk until the show started. The show was a bit delayed as they did a practice run with the hawk who decided to perch up on one of the pine trees. They never did get her down before the show started. I was introduced in the beginning, answered a couple questions and sat down again until they needed me. Then I enter a pool behind the scenes as one of the beluga whales poked its head up in the water curious about me. After awhile I could feel coldness in my boots so I can only imagine what it’s like for these trainers to get in the water. We met the trainer and he told me that the beluga whale was Mayak, the oldest female who is currently pregnant. I was able to touch her skin, which feels like very smooth, wet rubber. I felt her stomach where the baby was, but I did not notice much difference. I remember doing the behavior with her of spinning around and speaking. She was really loud up close. I also saw the bump on her head wiggle around which was really neat. The show ended with the dolphins so we had the best of both worlds. Patrick told me it’s called the Aquatic Show because they can never know what animals they will be using. It all depends on their attitudes and who feels like participating that day.

Overall, this is a great aquarium that should not be missed. It has a little something for everyone. If you are like me and are more in mammals, you’ll love Oceanarium. If you are looking for a variety of fish, then you’ll like the older section of the aquarium. Or you can see modern exhibit designs and old architecture. Whatever you see, it is a treat for your eyes.
 
Snowleopard, we have similar opinions on these three places. Wait until I review Brookfield Zoo. I do not know if you remember at the end of Tropic World, there is a small viewing room where you can look down on a gorilla. Apparently this is the new retirement den of the eldest male. It's the worst area I have seen a gorilla being exhibited and the anger in his eyes was obvious. I am not sure if he does not get along with others, but it would have been nice if they sent him to Lincoln Park Zoo to join their bachelor troop.
 
I studied in Chicago for various years and enjoyed many trips to the zoos, the aquarium and the field museum. I still have various guidebooks and maps. On Shedd aquarium, here is some interesting information. Shedd Aquarium was opened in 1929, a gift to Chicago from John graves Shedd, president of Marshall Field and Company stores. He donated 2 million dollars to build the world ¨s largest aquarium in Chicago. The city already had a small aquarium at Lincoln Park Zoo, in what is now one of the restaurants.
The designs you mentioned date from the original architecture. In the rotunda where the coral reef is now, there was a swamp exhibit. The oceanarium was opened in 1987, the belugas came from Hudson bay and the sea otters were rescued animals from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, that could not be returned to the wild. Amazon Rising was opened in 2000 and recieved various awards for exhibit excellence. Also among the noted guests of Shedd are: Granpa, a australian lungfish that arrived in 1933 and was still around in 2005 ( is he still around ?), gamera, a huge alligator snapping turtle that was caught in texas in 1982 ( his tank is too small for him) and of course Chico the amazon river dolphin or boto who lived for 18 years at shedd until his death in 1982. I remember seeing Chico in his final years when i was still studying in the windy city. he lived in one of the central tanks in the freshwater galleries which by todays standards are too small for sea mammals. Most of the info is from the book Shedd Aquarium, the first 75 years, by Karen Furnwger, which i bought on a return visit i made a couple of years back.
 
@ carlos77: Thank you for that information! If you have any more information on the aquarium or two zoos, please post it here. I would love to read it.
 
The reson why the gorilla is in that exhibit is because he is very old and Brookfield zoo got a new gorilla i think JoJo from Lincoln Park zoo so they could make space for their bachlor group The other females with jojo in lpz went to columbus and somewhere else
 
LINCOLN PARK ZOO:

The zoo is in a beautiful location of Chicago. You are in a park surrounded by nature, a conservatory is right next door, and yet you see the beautiful skyline from afar. If you are coming from the aquarium, a good tip we got from team tapir was to take a cab there. This is of course if you don’t have your own transportation. It’s faster than taking public transportation and the ride only cost around $16.

Pinniped Exhibit: We came in the entrance right in front of the seal/sea lion pool. I only saw that exhibit walking around their tank, so I never saw it from the seating area or down below. So I have no idea what types of seals they have, if they do anymore. The exhibit seemed outdated, but decent.

Kovler’s Lion House: Here again you have this old building that has beautiful architecture, but the inside somehow needs to be modernize to give it justice. I agree the addition of the gift shop was not needed and takes up space needed for these big cats. However, it seemed most of them could rotate and had outdoor exhibits. The lion and tiger had both outdoor and indoor exhibits. The jaguar was inside, and the Amur leopard was outside. The red panda was outside (exhibit was being worked on), along with the cougar. Inside was the lynx, and serval. For the smaller cats, the exhibits weren’t horrible, but a joke for the bigger cats. Granted most holding areas may be this size or layout, but maybe it’s better the public does not see it. Or we’d feel better if we knew they all had outdoor exhibits. Apparently they just acquired a new male lion, but I didn’t seem him on display.

Monkey House: I was a bit confused as it said “Small Mammal House.” So when I went in there I was wondering why there were only monkeys and when I got to the Small Mammal building I wondered why the zoo had two. I do not remember much of this exhibit. Basic monkey exhibits you would see at Smithsonian National Zoo or Philadelphia Zoo.

Regenstein Center for Apes: I enjoyed this newer section of the zoo. Team tapir made a comment how it was funny when the renovated this exhibit it was around time the Brookfield Zoo started constructed Tropic World. I think the apes have it better at this zoo! The yards were decent in size and a lot of climbing structures. I liked the inside of the building with long windows to look into their exhibits. Plus dirt and wood chips were used as flooring so they are always walking on a soft surface. It was fun to see the log is half in the exhibit and half in the visitor area. It would really provide a great viewing opportunity if a chimp was in it. *

Hoofstock Yards: Similar to the Smithsonian Zoo’s African circle, and also with a random Australian animal thrown into the mix (kangaroos at this zoo). Nothing too exciting, although I was happy to see takin for the first time in my life.

Regenstein Small Mammal/Reptile House: I am thankful for the photos on zoochat because I rushed through both zoos, it’s hard to remember some exhibits. I remember enjoying this building and it had a board walk with exhibits on each side. One section had small clawed Asian otters with an average exhibit with a nice big pool for them to swim in. The last section was large and had a second floor to overlook the whole area. They had sand cats, Patagonian cavy, howler monkeys, meerkats, sloths, monkeys, etc.

Regenstein African Journey: The inside building was probably my favorite at the zoo. When you first walk in there’s an outline of Africa with photos of African animals. One area that I loved was the pygmy hippo exhibit. It had a big pool with cichlids to keep the water clear. It decided to get in the water and I came around. It pressed it’s nose up to the glass and keep bumping into it. It was amazing to see it up close and every took a moment to get a photo with it. I remember another section with meerkats and aardvarks. It looked like the aardvarks could go in the meerkat exhibit, but I saw one in its den behind it. The klipspringer had an exhibit before this and you could see it through mesh still in the meerkat exhibit. And behind the meerkat exhibit on the other side was the giraffe holding area. There was also a section for birds and colobus monkeys. I really wish I took more exhibit photos to remember it all.

Outside, I enjoyed the giraffe exhibit. It wasn’t a huge savanna, but you have three vantage points. The one I liked the best was in front of their small water hole. An ostrich was hanging out there and Grant gazelles were chasing each other. It was interesting to see a reticulated and baringo giraffe together. I have never seen a baringo giraffe before (I believe they are subspecies of Rothschild).

Bear Grottoes: Average, typical grottoes. But one thing I will give them credit for is the good amount of grass in them, including way down in the moat. They had Andean, Sun, and Polar Bears. The polar bears pool seemed pretty big in size, but not a lot of land in the exhibit.

Bird House: I was not impressed with this section. They had a good variety of birds, but the layout was not exciting or creative. I walked through it and was like, “This is it?” Maybe I have been spoiled having seen the huge selection at the Smithsonian National Zoo. But since I’m slowly becoming a bird lover, I wanted more.

Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo: This was seen very quickly around closing time. Each exhibit was nice for it’s inhabitants. They displayed river otters (probably the best one out of all the zoos and aquarium in Chicago), beavers, black bears, and wolves. They also had an indoor play area that looked really fun for kids. The black bear exhibit had a subdivided log as well and we were lucky enough to see a sleeping bear on the other side.

The penguin exhibit recently closed and the flamingo lake was closed off. I did not go down to the Children’s farm section.

This was a nice little zoo to visit. If I lived in this suburb of Chicago I could definitely see myself visiting often. The whole area of Lincoln Park was really nice. My biggest disappointment was the layout of the zoo. There was really no rhyme or reason so it was a bit challenging to navigate.
 
@Tropicworld54: I did hear that reason, but is he too old to move to Lincoln Park Zoo? Or in his fragile condition, do they think it doesn't matter if he has a lot of room to roam?
 
Blospz, another nice review for Lincoln park zoo. Having studied in Chicago LPZ was one of my favorite places to visit in spare time. It is very easy to reach by public transport ( unlike Brookfield) and always free ( unlike Brookfield). The zoo is very loved by Chicagoans. You are also right about the disorder layout. This because the zoo is very old, it was founded in 1868. This means that some of the buildings cannot be demolished because of their historical importance. But in my travels i have seen other zoos with historical buildings like Paris or Buenos Aires and LPZ comes out very good compared to these other places. here is info from guidebooks and memories. Also LPZ has a great online magazine with lot of info.
The seal pool has been a part of the zoo for over a century. The current seal pool is from
the late 1970s or early 1980s. It has held sea lions, harbor seals and currently 1 old grey seal.
What more can be said of the Kovler Lion House built in 1912 ? It is the most outdated part of the zoo and awful. By the way, the young male lion who has just arrived is one of the felines born at the Bronx zoo.
The primate house was built in 1927 and extensively renovated in 1993. It is decent now and has good sucess in breeding, gibbons and titi monkeys breed recently according to the zoo mag. I saw the old collection in the 80's and it was an astounding collection to see but frankly depressing.
Bushman was the first gorrila to arrive at LPZ in 1932 and he is now mounted at the Field. The new Ape house was built in 1976. LPZ has had a great record for apes and the director then Dr. Lester Fisher made sure the new conditions were at the building were world class. Further renovations have been made and this continues to be a great exhibit.
The regenstein small mammal - reptile exhibit is from 1997. I liked this building very much with its wide variety of animals, since before such animals were in the 2 cafés that now serve the zoo. LPZ kept koalas at the regenstein, but i liked the final jungle - desert area much better. At the old small mammal house i saw tiger quolls, echidnas, yapok among others.
yes the bird house is forgetable, but i saw my first bali mynahs there.
The hoofed animal area is over a century old, but renovated.
The regenstein african journey was opened in 2000 and before it was just the winter quarters of the elephants. The story of the last LPZ elephants is a sad one and i do not want to repeat it now. When i finally saw the new renovation of the building i really liked it.
The old children´s zoo was very outdated too and the Pritzker children´s zoo that replaced it is much better. The north american theme is well made. here LPZ has made strong contributions to conservation programs. Various red wolves born here have been returned to protected areas in north carolina. There are also breeding programs for native illinois reptiles like the smooth green snake and the massauga rattlesnake.
 
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BROOKFIELD ZOO

This zoo is pretty big. I got there around 11 AM because of certain train times to that location. I was there until closing and I still didn’t really see it all. It was unfortunate because the last hour I had to cram all over the African section, not really taking the time to enjoy it. Also, I went back to Great Bear Wilderness the last half hour, but they were putting the animals in. I’ll definitely have to visit again in the future.

The Swamp: This zoo has a lot of themed buildings to make you feel you’re in the world of the animal. I love this so I enjoyed most of the buildings. I pretended to get lost in the everglades as I looked at the birds, alligator, and other swamp creatures. I took a ride in the boat where I almost fell off! You got to have fun when there are no kids around. The river otter exhibit was similar to the one at Shedd Aquarium. It was not really my cup of tea. The area had a lot of nice graphics and I actually took the time to read some of them.

Bear Grottoes: We passed through this area and they were boarding up the view of the old bear grottoes. It was pretty nice wood boarding as well so it looks like they will be there for some time. We did not know the real purpose of it. We felt you either show your history and how the zoo has changed since then or else you just get rid of it.

Seven Seas: We only went to the underground section so I have no idea what’s on the ground level, besides what I assume to be seating for the show. The pool was nowhere as nice as what they have at Shedd Aquarium.

Pinniped Point: One pool was for the sea lions, another one was empty, and the other one was for seals. I have no idea why the second pool was empty; it seemed this area had a lot of wasted space. The poor seals are stuck in the smallest exhibit when there is an empty, more spacious exhibit next door. The area was aged and could use a face list. Maybe they could take down the walls and combine it so it’s all one big pool/exhibit.

Fragile Rainforest: The building had dark lighting for its nocturnal inhabitants and to create an atmosphere for visitors. When I first walked in I smelled popcorn and I immediately knew I was by the binturong exhibit. Unfortunately, she was sleeping in a high corner so I did not see much of her. However the provost squirrels in the exhibit were very active. I also liked the mix of the Asian small clawed otters, who were rolling around looking all cute. Around the corner was the exhibit for the clouded leopard, pretty nice with lots of hiding spots, and one for the fishing cat.

Big Cats: The side exhibits for the snow leopard and Amur leopard were nice because they had additional viewing besides looking straight on into the grotto. There was nothing spectacular about this section. I saw two snow leopards, Amur tiger, two sloth bears, lion and lioness, and an Amur leopard. What I did find interesting was to read the Fragile buildings use to house the big cats in the past and they renovated it for these exhibits.

Fragile Desert: Another cool indoor exhibit. I especially like the leveling they did for the naked mole rats with an exhibit on top of it for a porcupine, bat eared fox, and some other animals. I remember a tall exhibit for rock hyraxes and another one nearby for a caracal. It was her first day back on exhibit so she was shy and hid behind scrubs. Other exhibits in this building are escaping my memory right now.

Discovery Center: We happened to walk in her needing to find a drinking fountain and it was interesting to explore. They had a lot of vintage zoo posters hanging up. I’m excited I found the hippo one as a magnet on eBay, which I just bought. I would also like to get the polar bear one. They also had a board with old photos illustrating the progression of the zoo. Photo contest winning photos were also displayed in this section.

Australia: I remember an exhibit with an echidna with some birds. Going up the ramp, it lead to a room with the wombats. For their exhibit you can curve around it and you look down at them as they sleep fully content. Off to the side was a big exhibit for a lone Southern hairy wombat. There was a sign that stated it’s one of the few zoos in the country to exhibit them. Next was a dark cave with bats that could fly around you. None of them did and must be used to staying in their own area. On the outside were exhibits for a cassowary, emus, and wallabies.

Paychderms: The outside exhibits were pretty nice for the lone inhabitants; river hippo, pygmy hippo, black rhino, and a Baird tapir. They all had shade and the hippos had good mud banks, along with pools to swim in. The river hippo’s pool was especially big. The building itself is really beautiful with its architecture. My fiancé said it was art deco. Looking at the beams, it’s just beautiful. However, the indoor quarters are not that great. However, I’m sure their bedrooms are similar to a lot of other zoos. They just allow the public to view them. I did not think the old outside elephant exhibit was that bad. I liked the enrichment tree in the middle. However, it is not up to standards of new elephant exhibits being built and their indoor quarters were not acceptable.

Tropic World: It’s time to review the most controversial exhibit at the zoo. I did not hate it. There were pros and cons to it. I liked the journey it took you on it the beginning. Signs saying how you’re climbing up higher and then mentioning about the choices made by the apes and monkeys. I like how it ended how you needed to make a choice in the path you took, except I didn’t think they’d just end up in the same spot ten feet away. The whole look was not pleasing to the eye. You think, “Oh the monkeys have all this space,” but then it’s all that space. I think it’s wasted space and more animals could be added, especially on the ground level. Looking straight on doesn’t help either. If they could have done what they did with the gorilla exhibit more, or viewing on different levels, it would have been more effective. So the smaller animals get all this space and the apes get stuck on small islands. The orangutans were hiding, they probably prefer to be in their holding area than out there. Even if they spruced it up, made natural flooring to cover the cement, get some live plants in there! I feel like zoos with smaller rainforest buildings, like Buffalo Zoo are more effective. Sure it’s a lot smaller, but the design and amount of animals is so much better. I could tolerate this all, but small den for the old gorilla is horrid to me. I can only justify it if he does not have much time left and they needed to put him somewhere. But even then it be a sad place to spend your last few days. I see no reason why he cannot go in the main exhibit by himself on rotation. If he does, please correct me. I heard he just stays in the den. I wish the exhibits would have matched up to the signs leading you on this fun journey.

Great Bear Wilderness: This is my favorite section of the zoo. I had no problems with the exhibit designs and I liked how the bears could rotate throughout them. It looked like the brown bears were in the exhibit more designed for the polar bears, but it was nice to see them in the water. One of the polar bears was in the exhibit where there is no underwater viewing, but the pool was empty. I feel sad for it on such a hot day. The bison exhibit is clever and you can get some close up views of them. This was perfect for my proposal. As mentioned above, I love zoos and my fiancé loves the city of Buffalo. So I thought a cute, considerate way to propose that incorporates both of us was to do it in front of the bison exhibit. I was thinking of doing it in the tunnel where there may not be a lot of people, but a bison would have to be near by. However, at the entrance off to the side was a bench and a bison just so happened to be down on the hill right close to the barrier. So that is the spot I did it in. Back to the exhibit, the bald eagles had a nice tree with a lot of limbs in their exhibit, but I kind of wish it was a real one. The wolf exhibit is absolutely breath taking and may be one of my favorite zoo exhibits. Lots of space, beautiful to look at, a great exhibit.

Habitat Africa (Savanna): Nice big exhibits for the African wild dogs and giraffes. The red river hogs were not present and waterbucks were in the area. I quickly scanned the building in this section, but it seemed quite nice.

Habitat Africa (Forest): Walking into this area with thick foliage you really feel you are being transported into the forest. A couple of the okapis were outside in their decent, but not too visually stunning exhibits. Their inside exhibits gave them privacy. I know there were other animals in this section, but I cannot remember them.

Aardvarks: It is strange they have their own building and coming from the Forest it was a little difficult to find the entrance. Their inside exhibit was decent, but smaller than the one at Lincoln Park Zoo. I really liked their outside exercise yard. This is where we spotted a bunch of zoo employees and we asked where was the baby aardvark. They told us he was coming outside from the back and this was his first time exploring the area. It was very exciting to be able to witness this. One of the keepers referred to him as Charlie and really wished they could name him that, but mentioned that was not the name the donor picked out. The zookeepers had to kind of walk behind the baby and gentle encourage him to explore this area and leave the back hallway. He took his cue from mom and started exploring using his nose. Mom walked all around and their was a pool tub upside down that she crawled under. You could really be up close to them in this area and it was so nice to see these creatures be so active.

Hoofstock: Addax, camels, prez. horses, and zebras were in this area. Nothing exciting to see and I liked it better at Lincoln Park Zoo where they were In a circle and you did not know what may be around the corner.

I apologize for the lack of the details in this review. I would come to a section and I try so hard to remember what I saw. Snowleopard, I give you so much credit for writing so many reviews on your roadtrip. I do not know how you remember it all, although I am sure all the photos you take of exhibits definitely help. This zoo has much to see and should not be missed by anyone who comes to the Chicago area.
 
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There really are a lot of exhibits at this zoo. I know remember I forgot to mention The Living Coasts and Feathers & Scales. I really liked the Living Coasts and the design in the building. As for Feather and Scales, nothing really ground breaking. I could easily see this section in two minutes.
 
The former elephant exhibit is now turning into another black rhino exhibit. And the old gorilla male does rotate on exhibit.
 
I do not think the zoo has elands but in the exhibit i think you are talking about there are waterbucks. The red river hogs were by here because this was the warthog encloser but they got rid of them along with the forest buffalo which exhibit was next to the red river hogs but the closed that section of the zoo off when the got rid of the forest buffalos and moved the red river hogs to where you could see them.
 
Thank you. I was just getting on here to change that to waterbucks after looking at photos.
 
In the next couple of days. Each album is pretty extensive so I don't want to post any repeat photos, but I'll select a few good ones. Yes, I did take photos inside the pachyderm house.
 
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