What's new at the zoo? Brookfield_Zoo goes wild with new outdoor habitats for primates
At 26 years old, Jontu left his bachelor pad in St. Louis to take charge of an all-female troop of western lowland gorillas at Brookfield Zoo. The new silverback is the dominant male, the peacekeeper, the undisputed king of a man-made jungle.
"It's a huge undertaking for us, but it's going to transform this entire West Mall into four outdoor immersive habitats that are just absolutely spectacular from a design standpoint," Adkesson said, looking across the 2-acre construction site. "Instead of looking at a tiger and a leopard in the grottoes like we currently have, you're looking at a tiger and a leopard out in the middle of a forest that would be very similar to how you might see them in their natural regions."
"He's a fantastic animal, just a nice, calm demeanor, gets along well with everybody that we've got in our troop and has really just settled in great," Adkesson said. "I can hear him all the way up in my office," Adkesson said of the high-pitched yelp of a red-legged seriema, a ground-dwelling bird native to South America.
"They will continue to have that social structure until they're needed elsewhere," said Megan Kovanda, a lead animal care specialist for primates."This will be new for us. We have not managed a bachelor troop here."
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