Brookfield Zoo Chicago is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year with a Ferris wheel, koalas and new animal adventures.
“We’ve got all kinds of exciting stuff coming up and hopefully the public will be ready to celebrate with us all year long,” said Andrea Rodgers, senior vice president of guest experience and operations.
Zoo officials have been busy planning events for the celebration year with more events to come, she said, including a new summer concert series and a few 21-and-over events in the fall.
This spring will feature lots of new and returning activities and attractions at the zoo, including a 130-foot Ferris wheel. Located just east of the newly landscaped Roosevelt Fountain, the attraction will have 24 gondolas that seat up to six people each. Riders must be at least 36 inches tall accompanied by supervising companions and 42 inches to ride solo.
It will be open March 15 through Dec. 31 and will have multicolored LED lighting that will light up during evening hours and events, including Boo at the Zoo and Holiday Magic.
“Ferris wheels over the last couple of years have really become these monuments of places and destinations so we thought it was very fitting, why not bring something that was both nostalgic and also very timeless to celebrate the 90th anniversary,” she said. “At 130 feet tall, it will definitely give you a bird’s eye view of our park and our animal habitats and our gardens and definitely the Chicago skyline.”
New residents
The zoo continues to evolve and one of the most significant transformations is the new tropical forest primate habitat that is under construction on the west mall, Rodgers said.
“But we have a number of added exhibits. Last year we opened a macaw habitat that allowed people to come eye to eye with those beautiful, colorful birds,” she said.
“In that continuation, we are welcoming koalas for the first time. It will be the only place in Illinois that you can come eye to eye with these marsupials.”
In a partnership of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and San Diego Zoo’s Koala Education and Conservation Project, two male koalas named Brumby and Willum will take up residence in the Hamill Family Play Zoo. Also new this spring – the Hamill Family Play Zoo will be free with admission.
The koalas will also have an extended outdoor habitat, she said.
The opening of the koala exhibit hasn’t been announced yet, but it will be ready by summer, she said. Willem and Brumby will be at Brookfield for the rest of the year, she said.
Also opening in June is a new, 3,000-square-foot North American Prairie Aviary located by the Hamill Family Nature Stage and Plaza. It will be home to a pair of sandhill cranes and nearly a dozen greater prairie chickens.
“It is a really wonderful way to see these native prairie species,” she said.
Wild experiences
Wild Connections experiences allow participants the opportunity to get up close and personal with an animal. In addition to learning about the species, sometimes guests can even feed and touch the animals.
The Zoo is expanding its Wild Connections experiences this spring. In addition to the popular Penguin Encounter and Penguin Feeding Adventure and the Rainforest Aviary Feeding programs, more opportunities to purchase connection experiences have been added, Rodgers said.
That includes Shark Feeding Adventure, Flamingo Feeding Adventure and Otter Adventure. A category called Animal Ambassador Adventure allows participants to choose between a handful of species to have an encounter with, like a sloth or a porcupine.
“This is a way that guests who want to take a deeper dive in connecting with species and talking with our animal care specialists to learn more about biology, behavior and actually participate with some of the animals,” she said.
The programs are available on select days – check the website for times. If an encounter says it is sold out, keep checking back in case new times open up, she said.
Dolphins are back
All seven of the zoo’s bottlenose dolphins are home after being housed at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, Minnesota, since November 2022 while their habitat, Seven Seas, was undergoing renovations.
“We’re so, so happy that they’re back now,” Rodgers said. “They’ve been acclimating to their new environment. There’s been a lot of rock work and enrichment material that’s been added in there.”
This means that the Dolphins in Action presentations will return starting March 22 with the Underwater Viewing Gallery opening March 25.
Above all else, every dollar spent at the zoo goes back to support the zoo’s mission of environmental education and animal care, she said.
“We hope that people will come along with us in this mission that we have to connect people directly to wildlife and to create that empathy and understanding that eventually lead to taking action,” she said.
“If you think you’ve been to the zoo and seen it, I promise you haven’t. There is always something new and different happening. In addition to the activities, the new attractions, you’ll always get a different look at our animals as well.”
Brookfield Zoo Chicago
When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily
Where: 8400 31st St., Brookfield
Tickets: $20.95-$29.95, free for children 2 and under; Ferris wheel: $6-8; parking, $17-$20; Dolphins in Action: $3-$6
Information: 708-688-8000; brookfieldzoo.org
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
