Phillips Park Zoo is located on the grounds of Phillips Park

Phillips Park (Aurora, IL)

Phillips Park is located on over 325 acres in Aurora, Illinois, USA. This park is a municipal park managed by the Department of Parks & Recreation of the city of Aurora, and has co-owned areas with the Fox Valley Park District.-History:...

, in Aurora, Illinois

Aurora, Illinois

Aurora is the second most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the 112th largest city in the United States. A suburb of Chicago, located west of the Loop, its population in 2010 was 197,899. Originally founded within Kane County, Aurora's city limits have expanded greatly over the past...

, USA. It was originally established in 1915, and is still open year-round with no admission charge. It was once home to exotic animals such as giraffes and monkeys, but the zoo's focus changed to native animals after Brookfield Zoo

Brookfield Zoo

The Brookfield Zoo is zoo located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. The zoo covers an area of and houses around 450 species of animals....

 was opened in 1934.

History

After Phillips Park Zoo was established in 1915 a bird house was built in 1916. By 1920 the zoo had 5 black bears, 10 monkeys, 6 elk, 3 buffalo, 2 foxes, 1 wolf and 1 deer, in addition to hundreds of birds. Unfortunately, a hailstorm destroyed the original bird house in 1933. After the loss of the bird house and Brookfield Zoo opening in 1934 the Phillips Park Zoo refocused on displaying native animals. In 1937 mastodon bones and tusks, which were found in the park, were on display at the zoo causing it to also be known as a museum. Only two major projects took place in the zoo history between 1937 to the 1980’s. In 1950 a barn was built. Then in 1964 a water wheel was added to the zoo. Swans and other farmyard animals now have their exhibits around these original structures. From the 1980s to the present the zoo has created new exhibit areas and added additional animals. The latest of these additions was the cougar exhibit which opened in 2005. Extensive work has also been done on the exhibits for otters, wolves, elks, and remodeling the reptile house. Animal additions included two bald eagles named Kenai and Denali, and Chopper the Caiman.

Exhibits

Exhibits shown on the zoo map include river otters, great horned owls, llamas and pygmy goats, gray wolves, farmyard animals including ducks, geese and swans, bald eagles, reptiles from over 10 different species along with a variety of smaller animals, peacocks and elk. There is also Education Center which is used by the ZooCiety for various activities throughout the year.