Also known as the Chicago Zoological Park, the Brookfield Zoo is located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. The zoo houses around 450 species of animals in an area of 216 acres. It opened on July 1st 1934 and quickly gained international recognition for using moats and ditches instead of cages to separate animals from visitors and from other animals.
The two Green-winged macaws on exhibit are brother and sister, and are the offspring of a former breeding pair. They were hand-raised by the keeper staff; however, they are not tame. They stay in the exhibit on the perches because they have another bird to keep them company, have food, and feel comfortable.
February 2016
Green-winged macaw by
Paul Sager, on Flickr
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1449/24851035120_aab597466b_h.jpgAn estimated 65 percent of the world’s population drinks goat milk, which is statistically more nutrient-rich than cow milk.
February 2016
Nigerian Dwarf Goat http://farm1.staticflickr.com/820/40922454242_d761f23d96_h.jpgA newborn gorilla weighs between 4 and 5 pounds at birth. Zachary was born in Sept 2015. “When people see Zachary, it’s kind of amazing how they relate to that. They see a primate mother with an infant and it’s a very relatable relationship with how gentle moms are with their kids, how protective they are,” said Craig Demitros, associate curator of primates at Brookfield Zoo. “There’s just something about that, because they are so close to us, that people relate to that a lot.”
January 2016
Kamba and baby Zachary http://farm1.staticflickr.com/801/39917931385_a498cb1e3d_b.jpgHistorically, White-cheeked Gibbons were found in Vietnam, Laos, and southern China; currently their distribution is very fragmented in Vietnam and there have been no records from China since 1990. They populate tropical rainforest, semi-deciduous forest and montane forest; they prefer closed canopy forests.
January 2016
White-cheeked Gibbon http://farm1.staticflickr.com/791/26943383998_8c22ee3480_h.jpgThe Jamaican boa is nocturnal, hunting for its prey at night. It uses its forked tongue to detect chemicals signals from the prey.
October 2013
Jamaican boa http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4777/40813090111_a4d4a0912b_h.jpgBlack-handed spider monkeys have coarse, yellow-gray fur with yellowish-black or reddish sides. Their face is mostly black, except for the pink areas surrounding their mouth and eyes. Their underside is lighter yellowish or white, but they are black around their knees, hands, elbows, and feet. Their hands and feet have four fingers but no thumb, and their tail is long and prehensile (able to grasp). The underside of the end of the tail is a hairless fleshy pad that looks and functions a lot like the palm of a hand.
January 2016
Black-handed Spider Monkey http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4795/40070782565_6be6ac50ff_b.jpgThe grey tree frog is found in tropical lowlands from southern Mexico, throughout Central America, and in northern South America. They inhabit all elevations of wooded areas near temporary and permanent waters such as swamps, ponds, lakes, and thickly wooded areas.
January 2016
Cope's Grey Tree Frog http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1595/24218898319_0c91dc431c_h.jpgBrookfield Zoo’s Hamill Family Play Zoo celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2016. As one of the nation’s first major experiences of its kind, Hamill Family Play Zoo has been nurturing children’s curiosity and sense of caring for millions of guests.
March 2016
(Fuji NeoPan ISO-400)
Childen and goats http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7368/27501097692_f63055a08e_h.jpgIn the 1980s the Brookfield Zoo introduced Tropic World, the first fully indoor rain forest simulation and the then-largest indoor zoo exhibit in the world, on which the gorillas are exhibited currently. The main area where visitors can observe the animals is also indoors, but offers them ample opportunities to climb providing them trunks structures and ropes. It has big windows on the roof to give sun light and visitors can view the gorillas around almost the whole enclosure.
January 2016
Western lowland gorilla http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1492/24586597445_31a0e6032a_b.jpgThese images are sized to fill your wide-screen display. Try using <F11> to maximize your browser window for the full effect. If the images overshoot your display, such as a laptop, just click on the image or the URL link and they'll resize to your screen from the host Flickr site. You can click a bit further into the image details on the Flickr page, if desired. EXIF data is available from the host Flickr pages as well. On the Flickr site, use your <L>key for Large and the <F11> for the full-screen.