Brookfield Zoo

Set on 216 acres, the zoo is home to nearly 6,000 animals, including 3,000 invertebrates, representing 436 species. The star of the show is the Great Bear Wilderness exhibit, a 7.5-acre replication of a North American habitat for the zoo’s polar bears, grizzlies, Mexican gray wolves, bison, bald eagles and ravens, that opened in early May. The largest exhibit in the zoo’s history, it includes three bear habitats and an underwater viewing area to watch the polar bears swimming. Other zoo highlights include the orangutans, monkeys, gorillas and gibbons that populate “Tropic World,” one of the largest indoor animal exhibits in the country.