Narrating the correlation of elephants as related to their import, groupings, breeding and transfers,
along with other elephant related topics.

Friday, April 22, 2011

The Father's Photographs - Brookfield Zoo I

The following pictures were taken in the late 1980s to early 1990s at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Illinois. Records indicate during this time frame the zoo owned six elephants - female Africans Christy, Affie, Mame and Mtoto, along with female Asians Babe and Patience.

Patience is easily identified by the warts on her trunk. Babe has a ‘boot’ on her right rear foot. Christy is the youngest of the Africans.

It appears the two species were kept in separate yards. Were the yards combined during the renovation, which included removal of the dry moat and installation of a pipe and cable fence?

Photo 1, Brookfield Zoo
Photo Courtesy of M Easley

Photo 2, Brookfield Zoo
Photo Courtesy of M Easley

Photo 3, Brookfield Zoo
Photo Courtesy of M Easley

Photo 4, Brookfield Zoo
Photo Courtesy of M Easley

Photo 5, Brookfield Zoo
Photo Courtesy of M Easley

Photo 6, Brookfield Zoo
Photo Courtesy of M Easley

Photo 7, Brookfield Zoo
Photo Courtesy of M Easley

7 comments:

  1. Radar,
    Nice pictures of the interior. I remember when Brookfield made the attempt, feeble, but an attempt none the less at "naturalness" and "softening the barren jail" look of the indoor pen's with the Acacia tree's and the rolling Vermont landscape on the walls, and the fallen logs across the front's instead of angle iron barriers. The only thing they could have done more unrealistic would have been to hire the person who painted the graphics on the wall's of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo elephant exhibit, or the St. Louis Zoo's defunct performing animal arena, for many years home of the legendary Admiral Jim and his Performing Salty Sea Pals.
    Wade

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  2. Thank you for the note, Wade. I did not know the Pachyderm Building was originally designed without the graphics. As ridiculous as the "natural enclosure" appears, I appreciate the view more than the barren concrete walls of many other facilities with public viewing. I am surprised the St. Louis Zoo did not make the same attempt with their barn that they did with the animal arena.

    I have a few more Brookfield pictures of the indoor rhino and hippo enclosures I will post soon, both taken during the same time frame and also during my visit two years ago.

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  3. Radar,
    The zoo stopped exhibiting Asians in the early 90s. Since then it has been specifically Africans. They no longer have elephants as Affie died in 2009 leaving Christy by herself. Another African, Joyce, was brought in only to be left alone a few months later after Christy's early death due to a congenital kidney disease. Joyce was sent to another facility and they are currently redoing the part of the pachyderm house where the elephants were so that it takes up half of the house and provides more room for elephants.

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  4. Thank you Andrew. Can you tell us if the Asians and Africans were kept separate or together?

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  5. Over the years it varied. There are pictures of them together from the early late 50-early 60s , but I believe they were kept seperate mostly. I don't really remember. I'm in my early 20s so I barely even remember the Asians.

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  6. Also I just want to add, as an avid elephant fan and zoo fan, I frequent Broofield often. I'm both a member and my family currently works in the gift shops there. I have spent a good part of the last 10 or so years learning as much as I can about the zoo, so would be happy to ( try) to answer any questions on the elephants.

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  7. Thank you Andrew. If you have any pictures you would like to share, please email them to me at shomeetigers[at]yahoo.com

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I eagerly anticipate associating with new individuals with an interest or history in elephants, elephant history and elephant record keeping. If you have further information regarding the animals or locations questioned in the article, please leave a comment or message me in an effort to complete their records for elephant historians.