This precious little guy is a 6-week-old black-footed cat, born last month at the Brookfield Zoo. more ›

31-year-old silverback JoJo is heading to the suburbs. He's going to Brookfield Zoo, where officials for both zoos hope he'll breed with Brookfield's female gorillas. JoJo's last day at Lincoln Park Zoo is April 10 and the zoo is throwing a going away bash for him. more ›

The Brookfield Zoo welcomed a new baby aardvark last month, and today zookeepers released photos and video of the 13-pound calf. more ›

Sad news from the Brookfield Zoo today. more ›

Are big cats invading the suburbs? Every couple of years we hear about police getting panicked calls about cougars slinking around. After reading about the latest in Lake Forest, we checked in with Brookfield Zoo. more ›

The 4-year-old dolphin collided with another in the water on Monday before the afternoon dolphin show. more ›

Today's listings include a documentary on Irish dancing competitions, jazz-metal at Martyrs and free admission for kids at Brookfield Zoo. more ›

Newspapers throughout the Great Lakes region have let out a primal scream over the recent Asian carp federal court decision. Editorial after editorial mourns the seeming inability to aggressively address the problem…except for the Trib's oddly juvenile entry, which seems to not only misunderstand the judge’s decision, but also the nature of the threat to Lake Michigan. more ›

Anybody under the age of 50 knows that a Mold-A-Rama isn't a spore museum, but rather blow-molding machines that have fascinated area children since they were first introduced in the 1960s. Today's Sun-Times takes an in depth look at the machines -- currently residing at Lincoln Park Zoo, the Field Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry and Brookfield Zoo -- and the Jones' family business that keeps the Mold-A-Ramas in the area alive. Because once they're gone, they're gone for good -- as Paul Jones tells the paper, "No one [today] is going to build $50,000 machines to earn back $2 at a time." more ›

It's been over 120 years since the city has been in this situation but we're promised it's only temporary: there are no elephants in the city. Well, that we know of. [Insert joke involving both Mayor Daleys, the Democratic "Machine," and Republicans here] You see, the elephant that was at the Brookfield Zoo for the last year, Joyce, is being returned to the owner from which she came which was, uh, a Six Flags theme park in New Jersey. On a sad note, Joyce was the last left because Brookfield's other elephant, Christy, died late last year. But fear not, pachyderm fans, for Brookfield promises more elephants in the near future. Time Out has the zoo's statement on its plans and that the zoo didn't announce Joyce's departure out of concern for the elephant's "safety and the safety of the transport team." more ›

Last week, Brookfield Zoo unveiled The Great Bear Wilderness, a snazzy new exhibit that features some freaking adorable bears. This weekend, they’re highlighting an interesting component of the exhibit: the 38 poems that are artistically “carved in wood, sandblasted in rockwork, stenciled on acrylic, painted on sidewalks, and digitally printed on translucent Plexiglas.” The project is called the Language of Conversation, and it aims to get zoologists collaborating with poets, to get poets collaborating with zoologists, and to bring everyone from the zoo’s staff to its visitors along for the ride. more ›

Brookfield Zoo has brought a slice of the American West to the Western suburbs with the opening of the new Great Bear Wilderness exhibit. Great Bear Wilderness is chock full of iconic animals: Polar bears, grizzly bears, bison, and bald eagles (the last two are also native to Illinois). more ›

On May 8, the Brookfield Zoo plans to open a new bear exhibit called "Great Bear Wilderness." At 7.5 acres, it will be one of their largest exhibits, and will feature bears, polar bears, wolves, eagles, and bison. The exhibit includes 30,000 plants used to create prairie, forest, and tundra habitats and 70,000 gallons of water. "Great Bear Wilderness" was several years in the making and will cost $27.3 million overall. [Chicago Sun-Times] more ›

Police are investigating whether a letter sent to Brookfield High threatening to kidnap a child are tied to previous threats to Brookfield Zoo and Mayor Daley. The letter claims the kidnapping would be in retaliation for a 2003 incident in which a "wolf was shot after it attacked a woman who went around barriers and tried to pet it." The original letter to Daley was sent as a response to the 2008 shooting of the Roscoe Village Cougar. Authorities have taken the threats seriously because a house neighboring Daley's Michigan vacation home was burned down shortly after the threat. more ›

When was an aardvark this high profile? more ›

Governor Quinn "plans to announce capital funding" for Brookfield Zoo today, Chicago Breaking News reports. The funding will go toward repairs at the zoo, located in the west suburbs. Quinn will be joined by the head of the Chicago Zoological Society, which runs the zoo, along with union leaders and elected officials, the report said. more ›

We're in the full throes of Fall and Halloween is this weekend which means pumpkins are everywhere. And some animals at Brookfield Zoo were the recipients of a special Halloween treat. more ›

• The threat of the city closing multiple mental health clinics is once again rearing its ugly head.
• Chris Kennedy may not be running for public office next year, but he has been to the University of Illinois board of trustees by Gov. Quinn.
• There's been a shuffle in the plans to build a museum in Gary in honor of Michael Jackson.

An interesting slip'n'fall lawsuit against the Brookfield Zoo has been filed. According to the complaint [PDF], the plaintiff slip and fell at Brookfield Zoo's dolphin exhibit last August. Jennifer Fernicola at ChicagoNow's Bar-Tender blog reports: more ›

• The Brookfield Zoo has a new elephant.
• Two men were hospitalized in separate mugging incidents early this morning in the Roscoe Village neighborhood; police haven't commented if these are connected to the recent spate of muggings in Lincoln Park.
• A CTA worker has died of Legionnaire's Disease after apparently contracting it from being splashed by stagnant water while washing a train car. WBBM has more.

July 1st marks a big day for the Brookfield Zoo: their 75th anniversary. And the zoo is planning a big celebration coming up to mark the occasion. The zoo will allow free admission for children under 11 on June 29, 30 and July 1 as well as 75 cent hot dogs, 24 ounce fountain cokes, and ice cream novelties at the zoo’s restaurants on those same dates. As for the big day itself, plans for July 1 include a special ceremony featuring remarks from Stuart D. Strahl, Ph.D., president and CEO of Chicago Zoological Society, plenty of cake, a singing of "Happy Birthday," and a performance by Tributosaurus. more ›

We decided to head to Brookfield Zoo on Saturday morning and were there for the opening bell ringing at 9:30, when the stroller gang stormed the gates. The air was filled with little kid giggles and happy smiles because of the perfect weather. And because we arrived early in the day, many of the animals were out and about when it was possible to be the only onlooker. Peaceful! more ›

Sad news from Brookfield Zoo where Affie, a 40-year-old African elephant, passed away. A zookeeper checked in with Affie at 4 a.m. and found her doing well, but at 8 a.m., she was found lying on her side. After hours trying to get her on her feet and to help her, she passed away around 2 p.m. According to WBBM: more ›

It's been a rough spring for Brookfield Zoo. Just a week ago, the zoo lost its oldest female gorilla, Alpha, and now the staff mourns the passing of Kaylee, a 15-year-old bottlenose dolphin. Kaylee had developed an abscess in one of her lungs a few years ago. A procedure to take care of the abscess helped save her life, but she was left vulnerable to other health problems because of scar tissue in the lung. Kim Smith, the zoological society's vice president of animal care, said, "Kaylee was one of our favorites, and our marine mammal staff is devastated by her death. After saving her life three years ago, we knew that there was a risk that she would always be vulnerable to recurring illness, just like a human who has suffered serious health problems." Kaylee was one of four dolphins at Brookfield Zoo; the other three are in good health. [WBBM] more ›

It's a sad end of the week for area zoos. First came yesterday's news about the death of a chimp and the sickness of six others at the Lincoln Park Zoo and today comes news that the Brookfield Zoo's oldest gorilla was euthanized yesterday. Staff made the decision after discovering that Alpha, one of the oldest female gorillas in captivity at the time of her death (48 years old), had end-stage kidney failure. Kim Smith, vice president for animal care at Brookfield, said, "This is a very sad event for us. We are bolstered by the fact that she had so many surviving offspring. We know that Alpha lives on in future generations." Smith also described Alpha as the leader of the group: "She was the one that set the rules, kept everyone in line, made sure everyone was OK." Alpha gave birth seven offspring and a grandchild and great-grandchild are still at Brookfield. [Sun-Times] more ›

No, we're not turning into CuteOverload, but with all the depressing news this week, we thought we'd celebrate a little bit of good news. Visitors to Brookfield Zoo will finally be able to catch a peek at the new southern hairy-nosed wombat joey that was born last July to the zoo's eight-year-old wombat, Kambora. The joey has started venturing outside her mother's pouch more and more recently as at about nine months, joeys leave the pouch permanently. more ›

Photo by krmmnn