Brookfield Zoo Brookfield Zoo News 2014

Wilson, thanks for the head's up on the wombat joey. I will have to stop by to see him/her the next time I go to the zoo.

Dave, the male giraffe born at the zoo in November 2012, is scheduled to leave the zoo sometime this month or next month. Also, it may be possible that Potoka, the male giraffe calf born at the zoo last summer, may stay in Brookfield permanently.
 
I'm confused if the baby klipspringer actually is from Brookfield Zoo or not. The article mentions that she "...is expected to be featured in the zoo’s Regenstein African Journey exhibit" but that is the name of the African exhibit at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Edit: Lincoln Park Zoo posted a video to their youtube channel today of the klipspringer calf, so this was not a new birth from the Brookfield Zoo.
 
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Oh, I dont know exhibit names, I just assumed the reporter would know what zoo they were reporting on.
 
Here is the new summer 2014 map:http://www.brookfieldzoo.org/CZS/brookfield/media/Plan-Your-Day/Zoo-Map-2014.pdf
Notes:
-The new children's section (bottom right) will be called Wild Encounters and will be opening in 2015. Rumored species include: tamandua, serval, genet, and lynx.
-Baboon Island (below Tropic World) is completely removed from the map while the Bear Grottos (above Animal Encounters) are still shown but without any detail or path in front of them which was closed for the construction of Animal Encounters.
-Red River Hog are once again shown in Habitat Africa! The Forest and warthog are shown in Habitat Africa! The Savannah.
-The small viewing area between the wild dog and waterbuck exhibits is much smaller than it appeared on older maps and Wolf Woods appears larger than it was on older maps
-The path that used to cut off before the addax exhibit (top left) now extends past the addax exhibit and shows more exhibits for zebra and okapi. It eventually connects with the Salt Creek Nature Trail. The old dinosaur statue that was along the Salt Creek Nature Trail and next to the okapi exhibits is unlike previous maps, not shown.
 
TropicWorld54 said:
Here is the new summer 2014 map:http://www.brookfieldzoo.org/CZS/brookfield/media/Plan-Your-Day/Zoo-Map-2014.pdf
Notes:
-The new children's section (bottom right) will be called Wild Encounters and will be opening in 2015. Rumored species include: tamandua, serval, genet, and lynx.
-Baboon Island (below Tropic World) is completely removed from the map while the Bear Grottos (above Animal Encounters) are still shown but without any detail or path in front of them which was closed for the construction of Animal Encounters.
-Red River Hog are once again shown in Habitat Africa! The Forest and warthog are shown in Habitat Africa! The Savannah.
-The small viewing area between the wild dog and waterbuck exhibits is much smaller than it appeared on older maps and Wolf Woods appears larger than it was on older maps
-The path that used to cut off before the addax exhibit (top left) now extends past the addax exhibit and shows more exhibits for zebra and okapi. It eventually connects with the Salt Creek Nature Trail. The old dinosaur statue that was along the Salt Creek Nature Trail and next to the okapi exhibits is unlike previous maps, not shown.
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Thanks for all of the updates! Brookfield Zoo is a huge, historic, all-day attraction that I'd probably rank in the top 20 of America's zoological parks. However, after my visit in 2008 and after once again studying the map this evening I feel compelled to point out that while there are quite a few solid exhibits there is perhaps only one truly great complex. Wolf Woods is the cream of the crop and a fantastic habitat but most of the rest of the zoo lacks that outstanding quality that really would set the facility apart from many others. A famous zoo with a superb collection, but a zoo that needs a lot of money to update specific areas. Of note is that Brookfield and Indianapolis are the last two zoos in the United States with dolphins in their collection.
 
snowleopard said:
Thanks for all of the updates! Brookfield Zoo is a huge, historic, all-day attraction that I'd probably rank in the top 20 of America's zoological parks. However, after my visit in 2008 and after once again studying the map this evening I feel compelled to point out that while there are quite a few solid exhibits there is perhaps only one truly great complex. Wolf Woods is the cream of the crop and a fantastic habitat but most of the rest of the zoo lacks that outstanding quality that really would set the facility apart from many others. A famous zoo with a superb collection, but a zoo that needs a lot of money to update specific areas. Of note is that Brookfield and Indianapolis are the last two zoos in the United States with dolphins in their collection.
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I agree with you that Brookfield Zoo lacks a great complex. I believe the zoo is currently in a transitioning period to adapt to modern zoo keeping and is upgrading by need rather than getting new species or building new complexes that will draw crowds. The two exhibits likely to be built soon are Animal Encounters and what ever goes in the old baboon exhibit. Both seem like the will be good and major improvements but neither will become a great complex or something zoo enthusiast will want to travel to see. After 2016 is when it gets interesting, depending on how much money the zoo will have left. What are the species people think of first when the think of zoos? Elephants, gorillas/monkeys, bears and tigers/lions. The zoo built Great Bear Wilderness in 2009 for the zoo's bears so you can check that off the list. But now you see that the three remaining groups are absent from the zoo or have outdated enclosures. My guess is after these two smaller projects the zoo will go for a big complex for flagship species, but again we will have to wait until after 2016. So I would recommend to anyone wanting to visit Brookfield to wait. You will be disappointed if you go now as the zoo is in a transitioning period to regain their past prestige.
 
A baby bison was born May 31st.

The gerenuk are now on exhibit in the former warthog exhibit, and the warthogs are now permanently on exhibit with the waterbuck and ostrich.

The zoo also finally started construction on their Wild Encounters exhibit set to open in 2015. It's going to contain a wallaby walk-thru, a bird walk-thru with the option of feeding them, a goat yard for petting. Also new exhibits for the reindeer, alpacas, and red panda. The big red barn is also being completely redone. Nothing ground breaking.

Also asked a keeper about the bear grottos and he said the zoo has no plans for taking them down. He also said don't count on seeing the new baboon exhibit for at least a couple years.
 
I was also told that the zoo was flirting with the idea of making a mixed species african savannah exhibit, but they decided they wouldn't have the funding for it. The person said it would of combined the zoo's giraffes, zebras, waterbuck, warthog, gerenuk, and ostrich. A Giraffe feeding platform would have also been included.
 
Thanks for the updates, wilson! Any idea if there are any other new animal exhibits planned for Wild Encounters besides the reindeer, alpaca, and red panda? Or is the zoo still in the process of figuring out which animals they will be featuring in the new exhibit?
 
wilson said:
A baby bison was born May 31st.

The gerenuk are now on exhibit in the former warthog exhibit, and the warthogs are now permanently on exhibit with the waterbuck and ostrich.

The zoo also finally started construction on their Wild Encounters exhibit set to open in 2015. It's going to contain a wallaby walk-thru, a bird walk-thru with the option of feeding them, a goat yard for petting. Also new exhibits for the reindeer, alpacas, and red panda. The big red barn is also being completely redone. Nothing ground breaking.

Also asked a keeper about the bear grottos and he said the zoo has no plans for taking them down. He also said don't count on seeing the new baboon exhibit for at least a couple years.
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Any Idea if the new exhibit will be an addition cost or free? Hopefully they will build a rotational exhibit for the tamandua and other smaller species. Also did they mention if the wallaby were coming from the Australasian House or from a different zoo?
 
wilson said:
I was also told that the zoo was flirting with the idea of making a mixed species african savannah exhibit, but they decided they wouldn't have the funding for it. The person said it would of combined the zoo's giraffes, zebras, waterbuck, warthog, gerenuk, and ostrich. A Giraffe feeding platform would have also been included.
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Brookfield really seems hard on cash lately. And it is surprising considering they average over 2 million guest a year and no major exhibits have been built since 2009. I wonder if major donators (Regenstein and Hamill) have stopped donating as much as they used to or if all the zoo's old building are just really expensive to upkeep.
 
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