Lions, tigers, bears and more live about five miles from Oak Park, Illinois. In fact, the Brookfield Zoo is Chicagoland’s largest zoo and home to more than 2,000 animals who occupy carefully recreated replicas of their natural habitats.
That means you’ll find giraffes, antelope, rhinos, and mongoose meandering through a space modeled after an African savannah, leopards, and python lurking in a Himalayan rainforest exhibit, and dolphins, sea lions, and seals swimming through the Seven Seas area dedicated to marine mammals.
The Zoo was opened in 1934 by the Chicago Zoological Society, the non-profit organization that continues to operate the zoo to this day on land owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. Fun fact: Cookie Cockatoo, one of its first residents, also arrived in 1934. Cookie remained the oldest animal resident living at the zoo until he passed away at age 83 in 2016. Today, you can sit on a bench overlooking Formal Pond near the Reptiles & Birds exhibit that’s dedicated to him.
Read on for more interesting facts, plus answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about this world-class zoo that attracts more than two million visitors every year!
You’ll see everything from aardvarks to zebras and hundreds of animals in-between. Big draws include African lions, Amur tigers, giraffes, and western lowland gorillas. The Great Bear Wilderness exhibit gives you up-close views of polar bears and grizzlies frolicking on land and underwater. You can also see penguins waddling through a Living Coast exhibit, alligators and crocodiles whiling away the hours in The Swamp, plus condor, roadrunners, and vipers in the Feathers and Scales exhibit.
After 75 years of housing elephants of all kinds — African elephants, Asian elephants — in 2010 the zoo staff moved its last female African elephant resident, Joyce, from the zoo’s Pachyderm House to a California facility where she has lots of room to roam and spend time with companions, which are essential to a pachyderm’s well-being. While zoo officials continue to express hope for a renovation that would make the zoo elephant habitat 10 times larger for a new group of animals, the plan for a new elephant exhibit still hasn’t been announced.
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The short answer is: So much! Zoo attractions include a skating rink in the winter and a carousel that operates in warmer months. There’s a beer garden, food trucks, and several sit-down restaurants as well as casual snack bars on-site, plus several zoo-themed shops where you can find fun souvenirs and gifts.
At 215 acres, Brookfield Zoo is one of the 10 largest zoos in North America. (Chicago’s other major zoo, the Lincoln Park Zoo, occupies 35 acres.) With 400+ different species of animals, Brookfield strives to use the space to provide them with happy lives using many unbarred, open-air animal enclosures.
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Hamill Family Wild Encounters is a three-acre exhibit where families can have hands-on encounters touching and feeding animals such as parakeets and goats and get up close to red pandas, wallabies, llamas, and reindeer. There are also enrichment activities like Zoo Chats with zookeepers and staff experts, and special meet-and-greets with Brookfield’s “Animal Ambassadors,” including bearded dragons and porcupines. Plus, there’s a motor safari that takes guests on a narrated ride throughout the zoo and opportunities to feed penguins and giraffes and catch a dolphin show.
Brookfield Zoo is open from 10 am to 5 pm, 365 days a year.
The zoo is reachable by car, train, and bus.
Car: You’ll find Brookfield Zoo at First Avenue between Ogden Avenue and 31st Street in Brookfield, just 14 miles west of downtown Chicago. There are exits at First Avenue from the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) and from the Stevenson Expressway (I-55). Signs on First Avenue will direct you to the zoo’s main entrance and zoo parking—or follow the lion’s roar!
Train: From downtown or the western suburbs, take Metra’s BNSF Line to the Zoo Stop (Hollywood Station) and then walk two blocks northeast. You can also exit at the Riverside station or Brookfield station and walk to the zoo. To obtain a train schedule, call Metra at 312-322-6777 or visit metra.com.
Bus: Take Pace Bus Route 331 to Brookfield Zoo. The bus stops just outside the zoo’s South Gate. If you need detailed route information or door-to-door directions, visit pacebus.com or call the RTA Travel Line at 312-836-7000.
Admission is $24.95 for adults, $19.95 for seniors age 65 and over, and $17.95 for children ages 3 to 11. Children 2 and under are free. Group rates are available for parties of 20 or more. Admission is free for active, reservist, and retired military personnel — just show your military ID at one of the zoo’s admission booths.
There are parking lots at both the north and south entrances to the zoo. The cost is $15 per car.
Brookfield Zoo offers 90-minute birthday party packages for kids ages 3-11 that cost $40 per person and include admission, food, a present for the guest of honor, and more. There’s also a “Zoo It Yourself” package for $300, including admission for 15 guests, parking, and $5 food vouchers.
The zoo is also a popular choice for weddings and other special daytime and evening events. There’s an on-site catering service and a variety of reception spaces that can host as many as 750 guests.
Yes! Popular annual events include Boo! At the Zoo, which includes Halloween-themed activities for kids during weekends in October, and Holiday Magic, a 40-year tradition that decorates the zoo in more than two million lights for a spectacular show every holiday season. Check the zoo’s website for other kid-and grown-up-focused activities throughout the year.
Brookfield Zoo follows municipal and state mandates and guidelines. For the most current information, visit the zoo website.
Scientific evidence has also found that gorillas are a species that is highly susceptible to the COVID-19 virus. The Tropic World: Africa exhibit of gorillas and other primates will remain closed until the zoo is able to vaccinate the gorillas and assure the health, welfare, and safety of both these magnificent animals and visitors.
Guests can bring their own food and drinks to the zoo, but no alcohol is permitted. Glass containers are not allowed on zoo grounds. Bicycles, roller skates, skateboards, and scooters are not allowed in the zoo. Strollers, wagons, ECVs, and wheelchairs are all available to rent at the zoo.