New Arrivals—Emus, Sloth Bear, and Puggle—at Brookfield Zoo Chicago

Brookfield, Ill. — Brookfield Zoo Chicago recently welcomed several new animals, including emus, a female sloth bear, and a puggle—a baby short-beaked echidna.

Emus
In late June, the Zoo received three 3-month-old emus. Since their arrival, the one male and two females have been getting acclimated to their outdoor habitat and yard mates—the kangaroos—at Australia House.
 
Emus are flightless and the second largest bird in the world. When hatched, emu chicks are about 5 inches tall, and when full grown, they can reach just over 6 feet tall. To help camouflage them, emu chicks have distinctive cream and brown diagonal stripes that fade when they are about 3 months old. These stripes recently faded on the young chicks at the Zoo.
 
Emus grow very fast—in the past month, the birds at the Zoo have gained about 25 percent of their body weight. They can also be quite fast, and have been known to sprint at 30 miles per hour.
 
Sloth Bear
Earlier this spring, the Zoo welcomed Lila (pronounced Lee-la), a 2-year-old sloth bear. After getting acclimated to the animal care staff and her behind-the-scenes area, she was introduced to an outdoor habitat by herself. And just recently, she met her new mate, Kartik, the Zoo’s 15-year-old male sloth bear. They can now both be seen together outdoors along the Big Cat walkway.
 
Lila’s transfer to Brookfield Zoo Chicago was based on a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Sloth Bear Species Survival Plan (SSP). An SSP is a cooperative population management and conservation program for select species. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the species is listed as vulnerable. Found in India, the southern lowlands of Nepal, and Sri Lanka, the sloth bear population is decreasing due in large part to poaching and habitat loss.
 
Puggle (short-beaked echidna baby)
The Zoo is happy to announce the addition of a puggle—a short-beaked echidna baby—hatched on June 9. The echidna is one of only two mammals that lay eggs (the duck-billed platypus is the other). Currently the puggle is behind the scenes in a nestbox and bonding and receiving nourishment from its mother. This is only the second echidna to hatch at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. Waddles, the puggle’s 49-year-old mother, and Pokey, the 49-year-old sire, produced the first puggle in 2022. Since its hatching, animal care staff has been closely monitoring the puggle to ensure it is developing normally and weigh it frequently to make certain it is nursing from its mother. Once the puggle emerges from the nestbox, which will be sometime in late fall, guests will be able to see it at the Zoo’s Australia House.
 

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Photo Captions (credit: Jim Schulz/Brookfield Zoo Chicago)
103, 7993, 8031, and 8044: Brookfield Zoo Chicago recently received three 3-month-old emus. They can be seen in their outdoor habitat at the Zoo’s Australia House.
 
4617, 4632, and 6827: Lila (pronounced Lee-la), a 2-year-old sloth bear, recently arrived at Brookfield Zoo Chicago.
 
49, 9676, and 9686: A puggle (baby short-beaked echidna) hatched at Brookfield Zoo Chicago on June 9. This is the second puggle to hatch at the Zoo in its 90-year history. The first hatched in 2022.
 
6858: Lila (pronounced Lee-la and pictured on the bottom), a 2-year-old sloth bear, arrived at Brookfield Zoo Chicago this past spring. She was recently introduced to her Kartik, the Zoo’s 15-year-old sloth bear.


About Brookfield Zoo Chicago
Celebrating 90 years as a global leader in animal well-being and conservation, Brookfield Zoo Chicago inspires conservation leadership by igniting emotional connections for people with wildlife and nature, locally and globally. The Zoo is a private nonprofit organization that operates on 235 acres of land owned by the Forest Preserves of Cook County and is home to more than 3,500 animals representing over 500 species, including many of Earth’s most endangered. Brookfield Zoo Chicago was the first zoo in the world to be awarded the Humane Certified™ certification mark for the care and welfare of its animals, is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums and ArbNet. For more information, visit www.brookfieldzoo.org.