Chicago Zoological Society - Brookfield Zoo Home

Chicago Zoological Society
Brookfield Zoo
3300 Golf Road
Brookfield, IL 60513

The seeds for Brookfield Zoo were planted in 1919, when Edith Rockefeller McCormick donated 83 acres of land specifically for the formation of a modern zoo. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County, the recipient of the gift, kicked in additional property, and the total soon came to around 200 acres. A series of delays, including a 1923 failed tax rate vote and the financial crash of 1929, resulted in postponing the grand opening until July 1, 1934.

Brookfield Zoo soon gained international attention; first for being a largely "barless" zoo, designed with moats and other natural barriers rather than cages, and, within a few years of its opening, for exhibiting the first giant pandas in the United States. The zoo would, over the years, maintain its reputation for innovation in exhibitry, building the nation's first inland dolphinarium in 1960, and creating Tropic World, a huge indoor immersion rain forest exhibit (complete with waterfalls and thunderstorms), which was the first of its kind in the world.

As Brookfield Zoo moved into the 1980s, it gained prominence as a center for various types of conservation programs: population genetics, animal nutrition, behavioral studies, and ecological restoration. The work of the Chicago Zoological Society now extends around the world, with long-term research on bottlenose dolphins, Hawaiian birds, and baboons, among other species."

It was very nearly the zoo that wasn’t.
After a fabulous gift of 83 acres by Edith Rockefeller McCormick in 1919, the people of Chicago’s western suburbs boasted of a world-class zoo soon to be in their midst. But before even one building was erected, the future turned uncertain when the tax money for construction was voted down. In 1926, funding was approved and work started. But three years later, the stock-market crash halted all progress.
It’s a testament to the new Chicago Zoological Society that these obstacles didn’t dim its enthusiasm. The Society’s doggedness represents what would become the zoo’s trademarks: the ability to master challenges and evolve in spite of them.

As public demand, political and economic factors, and the state of the natural world have changed over more than seven decades, the zoo has embraced its four cornerstones—conservation, recreation, education, and scientific study—to varying degrees. Today, the Chicago Zoological Society is an international leader in conservation education and is fostering conservation efforts worldwide.

Along the way, a legion of memorable animals and people has suffused the zoo’s history with a fascinating spirit. Among them are:

● The newspaper cartoonist who became the Society’s first leader and one of its greatest public advocates.
● The giant pandas who took the public’s affection captive and didn’t let go.
● The walrus whose penchant for soaking people on warm summer days made her a star.
● The father/son team who guided the zoo through its infancy.
● The first black rhinoceros born in captivity.
● The gorilla who helped a fallen small boy, to the astonishment of the world.
● The polar bears who staged an early-morning raid on a stash of marshmallows.
● The clever exhibit developers who have led the way in unveiling new possibilities in zoo design.

It’s a tale too long and grand to tell here, but click the links on the left for a few nuggets that exemplify all that the Chicago Zoological Society and Brookfield Zoo have been.
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Contact Information

Chicago Zoological Society
Brookfield Zoo
3300 Golf Road
Brookfield, IL 60513

Phone: (708) 688-8000
Toll-Free: (866) GoToZoo OR (800) 201-0784

Brookfield Zoo is owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and managed by the Chicago Zoological Society, AZA Accredited.

© 2008 Chicago Zoological Society. All Rights Reserved.