Brookfield Zoo to build new primate habitat – NBC Chicago

Brookfield Zoo is undertaking a massive project that includes expanding its habitats for primates and building a conservation center with a learning space for visitors, officials say.

Tropic World’s current habitat, home to its monkeys and great apes, will be expanded to include four new outdoor spaces, the zoo said in a press release Monday. The new space will cover nearly two acres and will feature indoor and outdoor habitats for two troops of gorillas: a family unit and a group of adult and adolescent males. In addition, other outdoor spaces will be built for orangutans and several species of South American monkeys.

Among the most important features is a two-story glass window that will allow visitors to clearly see almost all the movements of the primates.

Climbing structures, grasses, and vines are just a few of the features that will be incorporated into the new habitats.

The project also includes the construction of a Gorilla Conservation Center, which will include a state-of-the-art learning space for the public and a home for the Zoological Society’s King Conservation Leadership Academy, which offers science programs. to secondary school students. , according to the zoo.

A fence has already been installed at the site as crews begin construction preparations.

Brookfield Zoo

If you visit the zoo during the construction process, you will still be able to see the animals in Tropic World. The project will likely take two years, with the entire complex expected to be completed in 2025.

Visitors will be able to see animals in their new habitats starting this year and “potentially well into 2026 as animals acclimate and are introduced to their new spaces”, the zoo said.

An official groundbreaking ceremony will take place in the fall.