Brookfield Zoo Baby Pups

According to The Gateways Magazine for Brookfield Zoo they are hoping to have some pups in the near future.  Habitat Africa The Savannah is home to a pack of African Wild Dogs.  They are 2 male dogs Duke and Digger.  They have recently introduced Kim-li a female from the Henry Doorly Zoo.  Check out the Zoo's website for up to date  information on the possibility of  a new family! 

Now that the weather is getting nicer it is a great time to plan a weekend escape to the zoo!  The cooler weather brings the animals out to play.  When you plan your day make sure to plan your dogs day with

Best Friends Pet Care!  We have funfilled day activities for everyone! 

Monkey Relocation

I can only imagine taking a stroll in the forest preserve with Toby, and along the way come these two! Pretty neat that the zoo is able to do this.

BY KARA SPAK Staff Reporter/kspak@suntimes.com
For Diabo and Delilah, home is a split level Coleman cooler in the woods. The golden lion tamarins -- yellow and orange monkeys roughly the size of squirrels -- were recently moved from an off-exhibit space at Brookfield Zoo into an open wooded area adjacent to the zoo. Golden lion tamarins Diabo (left) and Delilah live in a wooded area adjacent to Brookfield Zoo. There, zookeepers hope the tamarins mate. They're about 3 years old and each weighs about a pound. "If they do well outside this year, we may do the same thing next year," said Vince Sodaro, lead keeper of primates. Golden lion tamarins are indigenous to the area surrounding Rio de Janeiro. Once critically endangered, the tamarin population in Brazil has risen in part because zoo-raised animals are being reintroduced into the wild, including a group sent from Brookfield to Brazil in 2000. While Delilah and Diabo (Portuguese for devil) are not Rio-bound, zookeepers hope sharp-eyed guests learn a bit about the zoo's reintroduction programs by watching them pop in and out of their cooler home. The cooler, based on a design from the National Zoo in Washington D.C., hangs vertically and includes two separate levels and two egresses, helping keep the Tamarins safe from predators such as raccoons and owls and protected from the elements. They wear radio collars so zookeepers can track them if they wander far from their cooler. Zookeepers don't expect them to wander too far from their home and zoo-supplied food.

Brookfield Zoo Name a Tortoise Contest

Enter the Brookfield Zoo Name a Tortoise Contest!

Four Galápagos tortoises—the world’s largest living tortoise species—now call Brookfield Zoo home. But these four cute reptiles, currently known as Nos. 3269, 3270, 3271, and 3272 (and color coded orange, yellow, white, and pink respectively), are in need of names. The Chicago Zoological Society, which manages the zoo, is now asking children ages 11 and under to help name the tortoises through a contest that will take place from February 18 through March 12, 2010.

The tortoises at Brookfield Zoo, whose gender will not be determined until they are about 15 years old, hatched in summer 2009 and currently all weigh less than a pound. Eventually, they could grow to an average weight of 450 pounds (females weigh less) and measure between 4 and 5 feet long! They will reach full size at about 40 years old, although depending on their diet, they could continue to grow throughout their entire lives. Galápagos tortoises can live between 100 and 150 years, which means that winners can visit the tortoises they named for many years and even bring their children and grandchildren, making it a multi-generational experience.

All entries will be considered. However, the winning names will be selected based on originality, and connection to the Society’s mission of inspiring conservation leadership by connecting people with wildlife and nature. Assistance from older siblings, parents, or caregivers is encouraged.

TO ENTER:

Click here to download a form and mail it to:

Name A Tortoise
Brookfield Zoo
3300 Golf Road
Brookfield, IL 60513

OR

Use the entry forms and ballot boxes available by the Galápagos tortoises’ exhibit in Perching Bird House or at Hamill Family Play Zoo.



Entry Requirements

Completed entries must include a suggested name for one of the tortoises; an explanation in 50 words or less for why that name was chosen; the entrant’s name, complete address, and telephone number; and a parent’s or legal guardian’s signature. One entry per person is allowed. All submissions must be deposited in one of the ballot boxes or postmarked by March 12, 2010, and received by March 17, 2010. No purchase is necessary.

A panel comprised of the Society’s Animal Programs staff and Brookfield Zoo director Dr. Stuart Strahl will select the winning names. If there is a tie among two or more identical entries, there will be a drawing to determine a winner. Each of the four winners will receive a Share the Care package for the tortoise named and an invitation to Brookfield Zoo to come out with up to five (5) family members and meet the tortoises as well as some of the keepers that care for the animals.

The winning names will be announced the week of March 22.

Click here to view official contest rules
Click here to get the lowdown on Galapagos Tortoises

Great Bear Wilderness Brookfield Zoo

photos from Chicago Zoological Society

As the saying goes "Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my!" Well perhaps not all in the same enclosure but close. This spring Brookfield Zoo will open their new Great Bear Wilderness exhibit. It will alternately house the grizzly bears and polar bears. This area will be considerably larger than the separate areas the bears are used to now. They will have both above water viewing and underwater viewing. This 27,ooo acre exhibit will have 3 separate 9000 acre habitats. Sounds pretty nice. There is said to be plenty of waterfalls, trees, and caves so all the bears can feel at home when it is there turn to vacation there. This will officially open on May 2010.