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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 111,000 member house-
holds. Our reach expands through the entire Chicago area Now: The bottlenose dolphins
and beyond.
at S S D
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 presentations. 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, natural behaviors.
Now: The Chicago Zoological Society’s veterinary team
Our care of dolphins extends far beyond our
continues leading the way in innovative care. Brookfield gates, as well—our Sarasota Dolphin Research
Zoo is the first and only zoo in the country with a large Program, based in Sarasota, Florida, is the world’s
animal CT (computed tomography) table, which can hold longest-running study (50 years in 2019) of a
up to 2,200 pounds. CZS is also proud to employ the only wild dolphin population. And in recent years,
board-certified specialist in both zoological medicine and CZS has taken the lead on the first-ever multi-
anesthesiology in North America and the only full-time institutional cetacean welfare study, which is
radiologist at any zoo or aquarium. focused on how physical habitat, environmental
enrichment, and animal training impact the
In addition to providing state-of-the-art care, the veterinary welfare of dolphins, porpoises, and whales in
department is involved in a collaborative program with the zoos and aquariums worldwide.
University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine and
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: C’ Z has transformed into H
F W E—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, and
visit the largest parakeet aviary with 800 free-flight parakeets.
They also might run into one of our many Animal Ambassa-
dors 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.
CHICAGO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY | 2018 IMPACT REPORT 5
