Brookfield Zoo Begins Phased Reopening

BROOKFIELD, IL — Brookfield Zoo announced Monday that it is starting its phased reopening after being closed since March 19 because of the pandemic.

The zoo, managed by the Chicago Zoological Society, has set a number of protocols to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Guests are asked to read about them on the zoo's website. Some of the safety practices include:

• To ensure safe social distancing, a reserved timed-ticketing system to limit guest capacity is being implemented. Reservation times will be available in 20-minute increments. All admission and parking tickets must be secured by both members and guests before arriving. Reservations for time-ticketing will be available soon on the society's website. No tickets will be sold on site. All tickets are nonrefundable and no rain checks will made.
• To minimize person-to-person contact, the zoo is instituting a cashless environment—only credit card transactions will be accepted at outdoor food and beverage carts and merchandise kiosks.
• Face coverings are required for guests age 2 and over.
• To provide adequate social distancing, all indoor spaces — animal buildings, restaurants and gift shops — are temporarily closed. Seasonal food stands and outdoor souvenir carts will be open throughout the zoo.
• Other areas temporarily closed include play areas, splash pads, water misters, drinking fountains, The Carousel, Motor Safari tram rides, and Butterflies! (seasonal exhibit). The goat yard at Hamill Family Play Zoo will also be closed, but guests will still be able to feed the goats from a designated area.
• High-touch areas and restrooms will be sanitized with hospital-grade cleaners and conducted on an increased cleaning schedule.
• Hand-sanitizing stations will be throughout the 216-acre park.
• Signage and visual markers will be throughout the zoo to remind guests to maintain adequate social distancing.

Additional operational protocols include all staff having their temperatures checked at the start of each work day, wearing face coverings, and wearing gloves if handling food or product, the zoo said.

In addition to seeing animals, including the zoo’s two male African lions, bears, giraffes, grey seals, wallabies, African painted dogs, and Mexican wolves, in their outdoor habitats, with the reopening of Brookfield Zoo, guests can go back in time — way back to a prehistoric period, the zoo said in a news release.

More than 40 life-like, earth-shaking animatronic dinosaurs have descended on the park as part of a temporary exhibit, Dinos Everywhere!, the release said. Zoogoers will have the chance to explore outdoor areas and embark on a safari in search of all the dinosaurs, including the argentinosaurus. This dinosaur — measuring more than 100 feet in length and standing three-stories tall — can’t be missed on the zoo’s West Mall, the zoo said.

Admission to Brookfield Zoo, which includes access to Dinos Everywhere!, is $24.95 for adults, $17.95 for children ages 3 to 11 and $19.95 for seniors 65 and over. Parking is $15.

Limiting guests to only outdoor areas is the first phase of Brookfield Zoo’s reopening plan. Staff is continuously monitoring local, state and federal guidelines, including appropriate social distancing and group size, to determine when to increase attendance and allow guests access to indoor animal buildings as well as restaurants and gift shops at reduced capacities, according to the news release.