Brookfield Zoo Brookfield Zoo News 2022

Much smaller news than Topic World, but here's an update on the smaller exhibits Brookfield will be building this year.

Hamill Family Nature Plaza- crane aviary, blanding's and box turtle, and macaw exhibits are being added.

Eurasian eagle owl- this exhibit is being built within the east lawn.

Toucan- are being added to the Hamill family play zoo. The toucan will be going where the raven is currently. They plan to renovate the outdoor area and are adding a new indoor viewing area with a new glass wall being installed. The new indoor area will go where the current kitchen space and adjacent open nook are. ( I have no idea where the raven will be going)

Prairie dog- this exhibit is being built east of the pachyderm building. I believe between the butterflies and nature stage.
 
This lan sounds spectacular but I do have questions about the macaw enclosures in the plan. I have never been to Brookfield so I can't tell how big the area reserved for the macaws are, but it does look small. Unless they are just a perch in each enclosure for a show similar to the ones in ZooTampa or Indianapolis I am concerned about those two enclosures possibly being a parrot-on-a-stick enclosures. Sorry if I somehow said a baseless speculation on the last sentence.
 
Did not expect this news to be released so soon! A lot of these details have been discussed in private circles over the last few weeks, but I am elated we can finally talk about all of this publicly.

The biggest takeaway is that a brand new gorilla building is being added directly west of Tropic World. I was pleasantly surprised when I first heard about this, but it makes a ton of sense. The current gorilla exhibit has underground holding areas that would make it ridiculously complicated to get the gorillas outdoors and the 360° viewing is a detriment to the apes welfare. The fact that they are going to the lengths of not only maintaining the current family troop, but also bringing in a bachelor troop shows that the ambition for this development is definitely there. It sounds like the current gorilla exhibit will be occupied by additional African primates which is a good decision which will hopefully lead to an expanded collection. Both of the new gorilla habitats will be roughly 13,000 square feet, the orangutan habitat will be roughly 7,000 square feet, and the South American monkey habitat will be just under 5,000 square feet.

I am also really happy to see all of the new exhibits being added to the Hamil Family Nature Plaza. It seems like Dr. Adkesson recognizes the area was just created as a cheap way to get rid of the old baboon island and I'm glad that they are finally adding some actual animal habitats. The 4,000 square aviary for North American birds including sandhill crane, prairie chickens and kestrels is being built on the open plot closest to Tropic World. The new habitat for blanding's turtles and box turtles will be built where the raised flower beads currently are. And something that's a little disappointing but not all that unexpected, two perching areas on both sides of the plaza with sticks for macaws. I really don't like these displays very much, but I'll give the zoo the benefit of the doubt and wait and see. Really looking forward to the other small-scale projects as well.
 
I feel like one part of the Monkey outdoor exhibit isn't being mentioned, it might allow for rotation between various monkeys in the building, at least that's what I picked up from the mention in the article, would be a neat way of doing the exhibit
 
I really hope they elaborate on changes being made to the existing building and aren't simply referring to the addition of indoor gorilla housing. The news about the macaws is another disappointment. I'm hopeful for the other new bird exhibits.

Dreading the Savannah developments though.
 
There’s also a plan to erect a pair of artificial trees, one at the southwest corner outside The Swamp and one at the southwest corner outside the Conservation Leadership Center (the old Reptile House) where more than a dozen Macaws will be on display when the weather allows.
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Dreadful, sounds like they will be the horrid bird on a stick exhibits!
 
StoppableSan said:
Dreading? How so?
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The Savannah is already one of the better parts of the zoo with least want for improvement. I am fine with redeveloping the hoofstock yards and pachyderm house but Australia House is smack in the middle of them both. I would hate to fully lose Australia House or the Forest by desires to expand the Savannah... and I had very childish, naive fantasies about Aardvark House reopening.

I'm sure the final Savannah exhibit will be fun but I'd have hoped to see the existing Australia made properly redundant first.
 
StoppableSan said:
Dreading? How so?
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I know this wasn’t directed at me but I do have a similar concern about the Africa project; the loss of the Australia house - which I’m assuming is what @JVM is referring to. This excerpt from the article implies the building is going under for the development.

“Another huge project on the drawing board, one that’ll be addressed after the Tropic World project, is reimagining the northwest corner of the zoo, which is now a disjointed collection of areas that include the Pachyderm House, the Habitat Africa yards, The Australia House and the hoofed stock yards along 31st Street“

Brookfield’s Australian collection is one of the best in North America and would be tragic loss. The zoo has a long and proud history with Australian species and to see such a unique and diverse collection reduced to just the existing wallaby walkthrough in Wild Encounters counters would be a travesty. However I haven’t lost hope. Earlier this year Dr. Mike mentioned how he wanted to bring koalas to the zoo, and considering the zoos history it’s entirely possible a brand new Australian complex could be created elsewhere. Only time will tell.

Definitely not dreading the savanna project by any means though. The prospect of elephants and hippos returning is super exciting and there is a ton of space available to make this a really incredible development. I do hope some smaller things aren’t included however, similar to the current set up with the kopje house and forest house.
Sheather said:
Dreadful, sounds like they will be the horrid bird on a stick exhibits!
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I also am very disappointed about this, but I saw it coming. A few weeks ago details regarding the construction bids of the small-scale developments began circulating, and the macaws were mysteriously absent. That basically all but confirmed it wouldn’t be an actual exhibit. I really don’t understand why so many Americans still do this practice. It’s virtually nonexistent in Europe and I’m shocked the AZA hasn’t discouraged it.
 
pachyderm pro said:
I know this wasn’t directed at me but I do have a similar concern about the Africa project; the loss of the Australia house - which I’m assuming is what @JVM is referring to. This excerpt from the article implies the building is going under for the development.

“Another huge project on the drawing board, one that’ll be addressed after the Tropic World project, is reimagining the northwest corner of the zoo, which is now a disjointed collection of areas that include the Pachyderm House, the Habitat Africa yards, The Australia House and the hoofed stock yards along 31st Street“

Brookfield’s Australian collection is one of the best in North America and would be tragic loss. The zoo has a long and proud history with Australian species and to see such a unique and diverse collection reduced to just the existing wallaby walkthrough in Wild Encounters counters would be a travesty. However I haven’t lost hope. Earlier this year Dr. Mike mentioned how he wanted to bring koalas to the zoo, and considering the zoos history it’s entirely possible a brand new Australian complex could be created elsewhere. Only time will tell.

Definitely not dreading the savanna project by any means though. The prospect of elephants and hippos returning is super exciting and there is a ton of space available to make this a really incredible development. I do hope some smaller things aren’t included however, similar to the current set up with the kopje house and forest house.

I also am very disappointed about this, but I saw it coming. A few weeks ago details regarding the construction bids of the small-scale developments began circulating, and the macaws were mysteriously absent. That basically all but confirmed it wouldn’t be an actual exhibit. I really don’t understand why so many Americans still do this practice. It’s virtually nonexistent in Europe and I’m shocked the AZA hasn’t discouraged it.
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If and when the zoo goes through with the new savanna developments, I'd personally like to see them built in such a way that they wrap around the Australia House, and even have signage about the similarities and differences between Australian and African ecosystems.
 
When I did my most recent of many awful master plans for Brookfield, I proposed transforming the same section of the zoo a lot in a similar manner, including elephants, hippos and more, but my condition was a new Australia exhibit was constructed first (replacing the former Bear Grotto) in thst proposal, ensuring the former building would be in no way. This also added new life to the southeast part of the zoo which aside Wild Encounters is ridiculously empty. Dr. Mike wants to add wildlife to spaces where they are lacking and I agree with him on that.
 
I could easily see them not needing to use the Australia House plot for the African area, the only part of the area I could possibly see changing is the Kangaroo statue being moved, especially since there's also potentially being a Prairie Dog exhibit near the area, there does seem to be some plans for non-African species going to that area, the species I'm more worried for are the Asian Hoofstock and South American animals in the Pachyderm house, since those don't have an area they could move to right now.
 
pachyderm pro said:
prairie chickens and kestrels
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I had not heard about this bit! Sounds quite exciting, two very interesting species native to Illinois. The Greater Prairie Chicken in particular is not commonly exhibited, I believe, and is nearly expatriated from the state except for two small populations in southern Illinois. This is an important species for messaging about local conservation, and it is good to see an Illinois zoo planning to hold them. I'm glad the zoo is working on filling in many of the empty spaces devoid of animal exhibits.

That being said, it looks like you will now need to spend even more time at the zoo to see everything now. 5 hours is barely enough time even now, so all these new developments will make Brookfield even more of an all-day zoo than it is currently.
 
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As someone who has worked within the ambassador department and took care of the zoo's current kestrel, it would be awesome if he ends up living in the new exhibit.
 
pachyderm pro said:
Did not expect this news to be released so soon! A lot of these details have been discussed in private circles over the last few weeks, but I am elated we can finally talk about all of this publicly.

The biggest takeaway is that a brand new gorilla building is being added directly west of Tropic World. I was pleasantly surprised when I first heard about this, but it makes a ton of sense. The current gorilla exhibit has underground holding areas that would make it ridiculously complicated to get the gorillas outdoors and the 360° viewing is a detriment to the apes welfare. The fact that they are going to the lengths of not only maintaining the current family troop, but also bringing in a bachelor troop shows that the ambition for this development is definitely there. It sounds like the current gorilla exhibit will be occupied by additional African primates which is a good decision which will hopefully lead to an expanded collection. Both of the new gorilla habitats will be roughly 13,000 square feet, the orangutan habitat will be roughly 7,000 square feet, and the South American monkey habitat will be just under 5,000 square feet.

I am also really happy to see all of the new exhibits being added to the Hamil Family Nature Plaza. It seems like Dr. Adkesson recognizes the area was just created as a cheap way to get rid of the old baboon island and I'm glad that they are finally adding some actual animal habitats. The 4,000 square aviary for North American birds including sandhill crane, prairie chickens and kestrels is being built on the open plot closest to Tropic World. The new habitat for blanding's turtles and box turtles will be built where the raised flower beads currently are. And something that's a little disappointing but not all that unexpected, two perching areas on both sides of the plaza with sticks for macaws. I really don't like these displays very much, but I'll give the zoo the benefit of the doubt and wait and see. Really looking forward to the other small-scale projects as well.
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Prairie-chickens are highly threatened are rarely exhibit native birds that are not often exhibited in zoos. I love that Brookfield is adding them.
TinoPup said:
Guys please try to keep any and all speculating to that thread, and not in this news thread.
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I disagree with this. If we try to split it into two threads then there will be a headache of figuring out what was said in each thread. Obviously there is a line where there shouldn't be too much speculation here, but I see no reason a little speculation doesn't belong on this thread.
 
pachyderm pro said:
I do hope some smaller things aren’t included however, similar to the current set up with the kopje house and forest house.
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It's going to drive me crazy if I don't clarify this. I meant to say I hope smaller things are included in the upcoming Africa project. :p
MeiLover said:
As someone who has worked within the ambassador department and took care of the zoo's current kestrel, it would be awesome if he ends up living in the new exhibit.
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I certainly hope so as well. It would definitely be an upgrade from that tiny little cage outside of the play zoo which does little to evoke much of impression to visitors.
ChunkyMunky pengopus said:
That being said, it looks like you will now need to spend even more time at the zoo to see everything now. 5 hours is barely enough time even now, so all these new developments will make Brookfield even more of an all-day zoo than it is currently.
Click to expand...
You say that like it's a bad thing! :p I'd estimate the Tropic World expansion and all of the small additions would add another 30 minutes or so to the average visit assuming one were to cover the whole zoo. It shows just how much open space the zoo has to work with and I think it's fantastic they are finding ways to fill the numerous empty plots that we've been complaining about for years that are inexpensive but still fun and interesting.
birdsandbats said:
I disagree with this. If we try to split it into two threads then there will be a headache of figuring out what was said in each thread. Obviously there is a line where there shouldn't be too much speculation here, but I see no reason a little speculation doesn't belong on this thread.
Click to expand...
How about we do this; let's keep all speculation and deeper discussion (what if? questions, for example) in the master plan thread and have this thread for general comments, reactions or questions about todays announcement. That seems like a good way to keep all of the reactions organized.
 
pachyderm pro said:
You say that like it's a bad thing! :p I'd estimate the Tropic World expansion and all of the small additions would add another 30 minutes or so to the average visit assuming one were to cover the whole zoo. It shows just how much open space the zoo has to work with and I think it's fantastic they are finding ways to fill the numerous empty plots that we've been complaining about for years that are inexpensive but still fun and interesting.
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Of course! 'What a wonderful problem to have!', is what I should have written at the end of that post :D

So glad Brookfield is finally stepping up its game and seems to be moving back toward achieving its potential. One thing I was most happy to see on my last visit is that they were adding new and rare species, and it is promising to see that this will continue with the future plans.
 
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