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grand opening (1934) Brookfield Zoo opens to the public. dolphin care (1961)

Now: Brookfield Zoo receives more than two million Brookfield Zoo opens the first inland
dolphinarium in the United States.
guests each year and has more than 110,000 member
households. Our reach expands through the entire Chicago Now: The bottlenose dolphins
area and beyond.
at Seven Seas Dolphinarium
veterinary hospital (1952) Brookfield Zoo’s veterinary are guest favorites, delighting
visitors during daily Dolphins in Action
hospital opens. It’s only the third zoo in the United States with a performances. Here, guests can learn about
dedicated facility that allows for immediate care and research. dolphin social structures, adaptations, and
more, as our dolphins exhibit healthy,
Now: The Chicago Zoological Society’s veterinary team natural behaviors.

continues leading the way in innovative care. Brookfield Our care of dolphins extends far beyond
Zoo is the first and only zoo in the country with a large our gates, as well—our Sarasota Dolphin
animal CT (computed tomography) table, which can hold Research Program, based in Sarasota, Florida,
up to 2,200 pounds. CZS is also proud to employ the only is the world’s longest-running study of a
board-certified specialist in both zoological medicine and wild dolphin population. And in recent years,
anesthesiology in North America and the only full-time CZS has taken the lead on the first-ever multi-
radiologist at any zoo or aquarium. institutional cetacean welfare study, which is
focused on how physical habitat, environmental
In addition to providing state-of-the-art care, the veterinary enrichment, and animal training impact the
department is involved in a collaborative program with the welfare of dolphins, porpoises, and whales in
University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine and zoos and aquariums worldwide.
Shedd Aquarium to educate the next generation of zoo
veterinarians and veterinary technicians.

getting hands on (1953) Children’s Zoo opens, beginning

decades of connections between Chicagoland children and animals.

Now: Children’s Zoo has transformed into Hamill

Family Wild Encounters—a three-acre exhibit that opened
in 2015 and features unforgettable hands-on experiences for
guests of all ages. Visitors can touch and feed goats and also
get up close to red pandas, wallabies, emus, and reindeer.
They also might run into one of our many Animal
Ambassadors participating in a daily Zoo Chat. It’s a favorite
destination for many who visit Brookfield Zoo!

pack leader (1957) Wolf Woods is created and opened.

Now: CZS plays a leading role in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service’s Mexican Wolf Recovery Program, which works to
protect the rarest subspecies of gray wolves in North America.

CZS has contributed to the program by collaborating
on two cross-fosterings of pups born at Brookfield Zoo
(meaning several puppies born at the zoo were placed

in a wild pack, while several wild puppies were
brought back to Brookfield Zoo); releasing
one of its adult females to the wild, who

subsequently had a litter of pups; and
taking part in population-wide
fertility studies evaluating methods

to improve pregnancy rates.

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