The largest land-based predators on Earth, polar bears can reach up to 8 feet long and 1700 pounds in weight. Their distinctive white coat is actually composed of long, transparent hairs; the reflection of light on fur provides the white appearance.

Brookfield Zoo
Chicago, IL
May 2016

Polar Bear by Paul Sager, on Flickr


The Brookfield Zoo opened in 1934. During the early decades of the zoo, a mini-railroad existed, which carried guests around the outer perimeter of the park from the North Gate to the old seven seas dolphin habitat on the park's south end. The railroad was dismantled in the mid-1980s, although the pathways of the train track still exist, as does the North Gate station (since converted into a snack stand).

Humboldt penguins share their name with the chilly Humboldt Current, which flows north from Antarctica along the Pacific Coast of South America, where the birds live. Both birds and current are named after the 18th-century explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

Brookfield Zoo
May 2016

Humboldt Penguin


Red-vented bulbuls feed on fruits, petals of flowers, nectar, insects and occasionally geckos. They build their nests in bushes at a height of around 6- to 9-feet; two or three eggs is a typical clutch. Nests are occasionally built inside houses or in a hole in a mud bank.

Brookfield Zoo
May 2016

Red-Vented Bulbul


Schmidt's red-tailed monkeys live in hierarchical, male-dominant social groups with one male and multiple females in groups of 20 to 30 total monkeys. Bachelor troops of juvenile males may also form after the juveniles leave their family groups.

Brookfield Zoo
May 2016

Schmidt's Red Tailed Guenon


The Green-winged macaw has one of the largest, broadest ranges of any macaw species. It occurs in Central & South America, including Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay in tropical forests, mangrove swamps, and savannas.

Brookfield Zoo
May 2016

Green-winged macaw


Despite its bright plumage, the colorful Blue-capped Motmot is hard to spot as it darts through the forest. The motmot flies in short, swift darting moves, leaving only a flash of blue and green as it passes between trees.

Brookfield Zoo
May 2016

Blue-capped Motmot


Like all great apes (except Homo sapiens), gorillas require rain forests to make their living, and the forest depends upon them, too. The gorilla’s fibrous scat acts as rich fertilizer for the forest, and seedlings sprout from it rapidly, making these animals important forest regenerators.

Brookfield Zoo
Jan 2016

Western lowland gorilla


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