Brookfield Zoo Brookfield Zoo News 2021

That's odd, the aardvarks are pointed out. I have a 2014 map and are placed near the giraffes. I guess lack of a sign brought the unpopularity of them. Now it's unoccupied :\ Are there any photos of what it looked like inside because I don't even remember if I stepped foot in there at all

Also, were there Congo Buffaloes at any point at Brookfield Zoo?

Also also the aardvarks were probably removed in 2015 :\\
 
ilgecko said:
That's odd, the aardvarks are pointed out. I have a 2014 map and are placed near the giraffes. I guess lack of a sign brought the unpopularity of them. Now it's unoccupied :\ Are there any photos of what it looked like inside because I don't even remember if I stepped foot in there at all

Also, were there Congo Buffaloes at any point at Brookfield Zoo?
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They were till 2010 I believe
 
ilgecko said:
That's odd, the aardvarks are pointed out. I have a 2014 map and are placed near the giraffes. I guess lack of a sign brought the unpopularity of them. Now it's unoccupied :\ Are there any photos of what it looked like inside because I don't even remember if I stepped foot in there at all

Also, were there Congo Buffaloes at any point at Brookfield Zoo?

Also also the aardvarks were probably removed in 2015 :\\
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Yeah. They were marked on the map with a silhouette of an aardvark, but physical signage for the exhibit set back behind the giraffes in the back of the old antelope house was at a bare minimum and sometimes didn't exist. I wouldn't have put it past people to have even seen that sign and then see the old building and think that surely nothing can be over there. I miss them. I do believe there was a Congo Buffalo in Habitat Africa: The Forest for a while. I remember seeing it right after you walked out of the forest building. It may have been a Cape Buffalo. I can't rightly remember.
 
Amphibiman said:
I do believe there was a Congo Buffalo in Habitat Africa: The Forest for a while. I remember seeing it right after you walked out of the forest building. It may have been a Cape Buffalo. I can't rightly remember.
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They were Forest Buffalo but I think they went to florida
 
The last Congo buffalo, Helen, was sent to San Diego in 2010 after budget cuts forced the zoo to send some animals elsewhere and lay off staff. She has since passed away.

The aardvark house closed in 2016 and I presume the last individual was removed that same year. It definitely was very out of the way with only one sign east of the giraffes referencing its existence, so the lack of visitor interest probably wasn't because of the animals themselves. It was cool to see such a niche species get so much attention and its a real shame the zoo decided to abandon the building. It would be pretty sweet if the new director decided to reopen this building, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

@ilgecko Here is a photo of the interior before it closed.

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pachyderm pro said:
The last Congo buffalo, Helen, was sent to San Diego in 2010 after budget cuts forced the zoo to send some animals elsewhere and lay off staff. She has since passed away.

The aardvark house closed in 2016 and I presume the last individual was removed that same year. It definitely was very out of the way with only one sign east of the giraffes referencing its existence, so the lack of visitor interest probably wasn't because of the animals themselves. It was cool to see such a niche species get so much attention and its a real shame the zoo decided to abandon the building. It would be pretty sweet if the new director decided to reopen this building, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

@ilgecko Here is a photo of the interior before it closed.

full
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Ah thank you!
 
It was actually a nice exhibit. Once inside there was plenty of signage to learn about the animal. Outside there was a yard for it to dig in. Inside it had burrows and different holes to climb in and a variety of fun ways to get their food. I miss it. It was always quiet in there. Now I have to visit the forest on a slow day to get some quiet or walk around the pond. Which isn't bad, but, like I said, aardvarks are my favorite and places to get away from people who don't understand the concept of quiet zones can seem few and far apart.
 
I too would one day want aardvarks to return. Their reasoning for the unpopularity is hypocritical when Lincoln Park sandwiched one with the meerkats and giraffe in Habitat Africa just fine. The standalone exhibit I agree did get overshadowed by poor signage. But it was still one of my favorite exhibits growing up nonetheless.
 
Question: Did there used to be Scimitar-Horned Oryx there? I was looking at some old photos and saw a photo of them and I know Lincoln Park Zoo wouldn't have them.
 
ilgecko said:
Question: Did there used to be Scimitar-Horned Oryx there? I was looking at some old photos and saw a photo of them and I know Lincoln Park Zoo wouldn't have them.
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Yes, they used to be in the zoo. The last ones were either transferred to another facility or died. It’s a shame, but understandable when these animals have no wild population.
 
The daylight portion of the Australia House has reopened. The nocturnal hall is still closed. Additionally, Deserts Edge and Clouded Leopard Rainforest have once again closed following the recent covid cases in many cat species. Those buildings, alongside the pachyderm house, are the only things still closed.

As an aside, some recent photos have me speculating that the pangolins will be returning to public view very soon. Put on your tin foil hat and hear me out. Here is how the exhibit looked before the pandemic. Note the various logs and climbing structures and the sign to the right.
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Obviously the African Forest building closed for about a year and half and once once covid started and sometime between then and its reopening in July the zoo decided to remove them from the exhibit. It began to be converted for a rock python and that is what has been inhabiting the exhibit since August. Note that the "Decline and Demand" sign on the left was still left up despite the pangolins being gone. Also note the rock python sign replacing the pangolin one on the right.
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Here is a recent photo from this month from @ZooNerd1234 which shows how the exhibit looks now. The python is gone and there are two big clues that insinuate the pangolins are coming back. If you compare this to the first photo you can see that the collection of climbing logs has been reinstalled in a very similar pattern to this first picture. Perhaps what makes it most obvious, if you look closely to the right, you can see the pangolin sign is back. It's hard to make out, but it definitely says "African White-bellied Pangolin" at the top.
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It's honestly a huge relief and very exciting to see that the pangolins are coming back on exhibit soon. I do wonder if the new director played a part in this decision or if this is what the zoo had planned all along. If it is the former, he's definitely on my good side. ;)
 
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