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 Chicago Zoological Park - Brookfield, IL Posted by:  cldisme
N 41° 50.239 W 087° 50.165
16T E 430581 N 4632051
The Chicago Zoological Park (also known as the Brookfield Zoo) opened in 1934.
Waymark Code: WM2Z45
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 01/13/2008
Views: 52
Right on this road to 31st St., 1.4m.; L. on 31st St. is the Chicago Zoological Park, 1.5 m. (10-5 daily Adm.: children free at all times; adults free Thurs., Sat., Sun., legal holidays; other days, 25c. Wheel chairs, 50c per hour; attendant, 25c extra. Free parking and restrooms at N. and S. entrances. Children's playground, wooded picnic grounds, 11-acre artificial lake in NW. section. Restaurant at E. end of Mall. Children may feed animals, providing food is wholesome.)
The park, better known as Brookfield Zoo, is managed by the Chicago Zoological Society, a non-profit organization of Cook County civic leaders. The 196-acre tract, a gift of the late Edith Rockefeller McCormick, has landscaped grounds divided into quadrants by an east-west mall and a north-south thorough-fare which connects the two entrances. The buildings, of provincial Italian style, were designed by Edward H. Clark.
Most of the lairs are of the natural habitat type, without bars. Against a background of artificial rocks and thickets of shrubbery, the animals appear to roam free in their native environment. Carnivorous mammals are in the northeast quarter of the park; bears and small animals in the southeast; herbivorous mammals in the northwest; and birds, insects primates and reptiles in the southwest. There are more than seven miles of exhibits, all labelled. Magnifying glasses attached to the cases housing ants, bees, and other insects allow close observation of their life.
Typical of the care given the animals are the cages for the penguins. Because they are apt to stand in direct sunlight until overcome by sunstroke, the penguins are quartered in a large refrigerator-like compartment into which no direct sunlight can enter. Of the nine species of antelope in the zoo, five are the only ones of their kind in captivity. Relatively rare specimens include Kodiak bears and a pair of African elephants.
Most popular of all specimens is the giant panda, Mei-Mei (Chinese, baby sister), acquired by the zoo in February 1938. Mei-Mei's predecessor was the famed Su-Lin (Chinese, a little bit of something precious), captured by Mrs. William Harvest Harkness in the mountainous wilds of western China in November 1936. Su-Lin died in 1938; mounted and glassy-eyed, he now stands in the Field Museum of Natural History.
Page 541; Tour 13: US Route 34 - Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide
Although Brookfield Zoo has remained at the forefront of animal exhibits since its opening in 1934, a visitor from 1939 would notice only a few changes today. A couple new buildings for marine mammals and primates plus the Hamill Family Play Zoo have been built, but the general layout as described has remained the same.
The big cats continue to reside in the northeast quadrant. The Bear Grotto in the southeast no longer has Kodiak bears, but the Polar Bears take center stage. The elephant and the Pachyderm house can still be found in the northwest quarter along with the other herbivores. Birds and reptiles can still be found in the southwest including a more modern indoor facility for the penguins.
The one thing that definately has not changed since the zoo opened in 1934, but was not described in 1939 is Cookie the Cockatoo. Since Cookie was an adult when he arrived in 1934, that would make Cookie nearly 75 years old! (UPDATE 01/20/2010: Cookie has been moved off-exhibit permanently. Enjoy your retirement, Cookie.)
Book: Illinois
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 541
Year Originally Published: 1939
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