“Kids Send Drawings to Brookfield Zoo’s New Lions”

The Chicago Zoological Society (C.Z.S.) revealed in press releases in April and May that children have been sending images and messages to the Brookfield Zoo for newly-arrived African lion brothers Titus and Brutus and the C.Z.S. is encouraging wee tykes to keep doing it.  The C.Z.S. revealed on Sunday, April 19, A.D. 2020 that ever since public found out about the arrival of Brutus and Titus as Brookfield Zoo in mid-March via Brookfield Zoo’s weekly Facebook Live chats  on Thursday, April 2, A.D. 2020, since the four-year-old brother lions arrived after the zoo’s pandemic-induced closure, children have begun to send in drawings of the big cats to welcome them to the zoo.  They arrived from Utah’s Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, Utah on Tuesday, March 17, A.D. 2020 (Saint Patrick’s Day).  The C.Z.S. operates the Brookfield Zoo in west suburban Brookfield, Illinois on property that belongs to the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

      The staff decided to display these drawings on the window of the leonine outdoor habitat (through which zoo visitors would be able to see them if the zoo was open).  The images have sparked the interested of Titus, if not Brutus.  Subsequently, the staff decided to fill the window with artworks submitted by children.  Parents can share original drawings and messages for Brutus and Titus on the Brookfield Zoo’s Facebook Page.  The staff will print out the submissions and add them to the window. 

When the Brookfield Zoo re-opens, guests will be able to see the lion brothers along the Big Cat walkway.  Born in the same litter on Wednesday, February 24, A.D. 2016, Brutus and Titus have distinguishing features that enable zookeepers and guests to tell them apart. 

Brutus has a mane that is long, dark, and straight.  His brother’s is shorter, as well as lighter in color and fizzier.  Titus is a few inches taller than Brutus.  He also has a continuous fringe of dark hair that runs along his body to his belly.

On Monday, May 4, A.D. 2020, the C.Z.S. announced that children have continued to send drawings and messages to Titus and Brutus and enough had been received to frame the window.  The C..Z.S. does not want so many sheets of paper to be displayed on the window that the African lion brothers are unable to see outside their habitat (and zoo visitors are unable to see inside), so the Brookfield Zoo staff created a Webpage on its Website, CZS.org/BrutusAndTitusDrawings, where they could display all the artworks.  They encourage children to keep submitting drawings to the Brookfield Zoo via its Facebook and Instagram pages and drawings will continue to be added to the collection.

Founded in 1920 and chartered in 1921, the C.Z.S. brought to life the vision of Edith Rockefeller McCormick (1872-1932) to give Chicago a zoo without bars modeled on the Tierpark Hagenbeck, known in English as the Hagenbeck Animal Park, a privately-owned zoo in Hamburg founded in 1907 by Carl Hagenback, Junior (1844-1913).  The Brookfield Zoo opened in 1934, during the second year of Chicago’s second World’s Fair, A Century of Progress International Exposition (1933-34).