Brookfield Zoo

Cockatoo named ‘Cookie’, 1 of oldest such birds, dies at 83

Aug 30, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) An 83-year-old cockatoo named “Cookie” and a popular feature at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo going back to the 1930s has died.

The Chicago Zoological Society operates the zoo and it announced the death of the Major Mitchell’s cockatoo in a statement Monday.

The statement says the white and pink bird with a red and yellow crest was one of the oldest living cockatoos on record. It had also been the last surviving animal from the Brookfield Zoo’s original collection. It arrived at age 1 from Australia’s Taronga Zoo.

One society official, Michael Adkesson, says Cookie’s health abruptly declined Saturday, leading to the decision to euthanize the bird. Adkesson says Cookie suffered from many of the same ailments humans face as they get older. That includes osteoporosis, arthritis and cataracts.

Cookie Cockatoo Credit: Brookfield Zoo — Cookie Cockatoo
Credit: Brookfield Zoo

Visit the tribute to Cookie Cockatoo, visit this link.

Two of five wolf pups born at Brookfield Zoo released into wild

May 10, 2016 | WLS-AM Staff

Chicago Zoological Society veterinary and animal care staff perform neonatal examinations on Blaze and Brooke, two 5-day-old Mexican gray wolf pups, prior to their departure from Brookfield Zoo. | Chicago Zoological Society

(CHICAGO) Two of five Mexican gray wolf pups born two weeks ago at the Brookfield Zoo have been shipped to Arizona to be placed with a wild wolf pack.

The pups, Blaze and Brooke, were among five pups born at the west suburban zoo on April 25, according to the Chicago Zoological Society.

Following a neonatal exam five days later, Blaze and Brooke were flown to Arizona to be placed in the Elk Horn Pack of wild wolves. The pack will foster them with its own newborn litter as part of the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program, which works fight the demise of the rarest subspecies of gray wolves in North America.

“We are extremely proud to be able to contribute to this important conservation effort for the Mexican gray wolf population,” CZS senior vice president of animal programs Bill Zeigler said in a statement.

The other three pups remain with their pareants, 4-year-old mother Zana, and 6-year-old father Flint, at the zoo’s Regenstein Wolf Woods Habitat. The pack includes four yearlings born in 2015, who will help their parents rear the new additions by regurgitating food for them and playing with them.

Zoo staff anticipates the pups will begin to emerge from their den and be visible to guests in a few weeks.

Blaze (left) and Brooke, a 5-day-old Mexican gray wolf puppies born at Brookfield Zoo, sleep while in transit to Arizona to be placed with the Elk Horn Pack of wild wolves. | Chicago Zoological Society

Blaze, a Mexican gray wolf puppy born at Brookfield Zoo, prior to his trip across country to be placed with the Arizona-based Elk Horn Pack of wild wolves as part of the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program. | Chicago Zoological Society

Police: Man beat pregnant girlfriend in Brookfield Zoo lion house

Mar 2, 2015 |

(RIVERSIDE) A west suburban man is facing domestic battery charges after he punched his pregnant girlfriend in the face while she was holding a child Saturday afternoon at Brookfield Zoo, according to police.

Patrick O’Meara, 28, of Oak Park is charged with two counts of domestic battery and one count of endangering the life of a child, according to a statement from Riverside police.

O’Meara started arguing with his girlfriend inside the zoo’s lion house about a missing hat for her 11-month-old child about 3:45 p.m., police said. The argument escalated into a physical fight, and O’Meara punched his girlfriend in the face while she was holding the child.

She tried to run away, and he grabbed a stroller and pushed it into her, causing her to fall while she held the baby, police said. He then ran after her, wrapped his hand in a baby blanket and punched her several times, police said. Zoo police called 911 and officers arrested O’Meara.

On the way to the police station, O’Meara became violent, and struck his head and face against the squad car windows and divider, police said.

Paramedics were called to the station to treat the girlfriend and her child, but she declined to be transported to a hospital and refused to cooperate with investigators, police said. She is five-months pregnant.

O’Meara gave both a verbal and written statement admitting he attacked his girlfriend, police said.

“In Mr. O’Meara’s statement he told responding officers that he put the baby blanket around his fist in order to lessen the blows to his girlfriend so she would not be severely injured. This statement in itself is completely irrational,” Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said in the statement.

Court information for O’Meara, of the 700 block of Wenonah in Oak Park, was not immediately available.

Lemurs chow down on Christmas Eve feast at Brookfield Zoo

Dec 25, 2014 |

photo credit: Chicago Zoological Society

(BROOKFIELD) Christmas came early for five ring-tailed lemurs at Brookfield Zoo.

The lemurs–Butch, Dogwood, Moses, Ramses, Sam Bass and Skinner–were treated to an all-out Christmas Eve feast on Tuesday at the Hamill Family Play Zoo exhibit, according to a statement from the Chicago Zoological Society.

The festive primates dined on “cookies” of primate chow and applesauce topped with yogurt and dried cranberries, washing it all down with diluted grape juice and “milk” made of yogurt and water, officials said.

Zoo staff added to the lemurs’ holiday ambiance with an ornamented fir tree, a handmade, fruit-filled train set and a backdrop fireplace complete with personalized stockings for each primate.

Guests can see the lemurs daily in the Hamill Family Play Zoo, including during the final evenings of the zoo’s “Holiday Magic” program daily Dec. 26 through 31, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.