Illinois State Zoo

[Sher Shah Suri]

"Best zoo east of the Mississippi."

"The best collection of any zoo."

 

Anyone from Illinois will know what you're talking about. Welcome to the Illinois State Zoo. This mega-zoo expands over five hundred and twenty acres, and has one of the finest plant and animal collections in the world. These are pictures from the zoo was developing.

 

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In a word, the entrance is simply grand. Mallards often flock to the ponds, while a bighorn statue glints in the sun and fountains pour down water. Oaks, yews, and bamboos are just some of the few species of plants growing along the path.

 

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This is a picture of one of the food courts, and the Botanical Gardens Building holds two hundred species of tropical plants. Foxtail palms, ferns, and cycads grow in the food court, and broadleaf bushes, decidous trees, and bamboos grow around the food court.

 

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The meerkat enclosure is an amazing replica of Africa. Small termite mounds are filled with tasty treats, and nine full-grown meerkats can fit into the burrow complex. Artificial, not real African foliage grow here.

 

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The aardvarks have a sand-filled enclosure as well as man-made burrow to hide in.

 

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Behind the aardvarks is a secluded pond. One the day the picture was taken, a fabulous array of waterfowl came here. these were common loons, redhead ducks, canvasback ducks, American wigeons, and bluebills.

 

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The Northern Trail consists of five species, four of which are endangered. The only common one is the Scottish wildcat, which can hide in a cave or chase live mice in their enclosure.

 

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The most interesting-shaped enclosure is the red panda enclosure. A replica of a Chinese barn sits in one of the corners, and they eat live bamboo every day as well as berries.

 

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The Illinois State Zoo is only zoo in Illinois to hold giant pandas. Their huge enclosure encompasses four acres, and much of this space is home to bamboo forests. We are hoping the pandas will breed so we can help save this endangered race. In the back is the unfinished Chinese Research Station, which would open to guests several years later.

 

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Surrounding the huge Endangered Species House, which sells many gifts, is the Amur leopard/Siberian tiger enclosure. They can roam through about two acres of highland forest and hide in heated caves.

 

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In this picture is the Japanese Garden as well as the restaurant. Fifty species of Japanese plants grow in the garden, and the garden is also home to Japanese cranes and mallards.

 

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At the time this picture was taken, the full foliage deal had not been installed yet. The exhibit shows springhares ina savannah replica.

 

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This picture was taken around the time of the photo of the springhares. The left building is the zoological museum, which has Illinois exhibits (home to bullfrogs, groundhogs, Virginia opossums, and northern bobwhites), as well as a huge gift shop selling items such as Audubon paintings, dinosaur posters, and models of modern animals.

 

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Another installment of the Illinois State Zoo will come soon!

[(Admin)Savannahjan]

Your zoo is lovely, Sher Shah Suri. I have never been to Illinois, but I would love to visit sometime.

 

As I was looking at the shot of the food courts, it dawned on me that at my zoo, the eating area outside the restaurant also has a meshed cover over it, similar to the one you made. Just like in your screen, when it rains, it just pours right on down on the people and tables. :laugh:

 

Keep up the good work!

[pukkie]

Wonderful zoo Sher Shah Suri

It's great to see how build and your screenshots look mighty fine

Keep them coming :cheerlie:

[(Trustee)ZooGrammy]

A nicely laid out zoo. I love the hidden pond area.

[Sher Shah Suri]

Thanks for the comments, everybody!

 

@ZooGrammy-Happy Birthday! :glitter_happy:

 

The zoo has been gradually increasing.

 

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This a picture of our white-tailed deer enclosure. White-tailed deer are the state mammal of Illinois, and they were actually once extinct in the state, but were re-introduced. Plans to bring back elk, another extirpated animal of Illinois, have been planned by this zoo and the government.

 

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Shown in this picture is the Alpine Lodge, where guests can buy grilled hot dogs, the Woodland Gifts store, and the Arctic House. The Arctic House displays Arctic foxes, willow ptarmigans, Arctic ground squirrels, collared lemmings, ermines, and rock ptarmigans.

 

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A food court is nestled in between three lines of stone fence. The large woodland is populated by Mexican gray wolves, an endangered species. We hope they will breed so we can help this species. Though at the moment it is the last exhibit in the Northern Trail, plans for a bald eagle enclosure and a snowy owl enclosure are in action.

 

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The building displayed here is the Play Zoo. Little kids have hand-on activities, which are performing surgeries on stuffed animals, feeding stuffed animals and finding out how much a real animal needs to eat, what homes (such as logs and burrows) Illinois animals inhabit, and compare their jumping to a sifaka's, their climbing to a leopard, and their swinging [on monkey bars] to a gibbon's. Outside is the playground, where kids can choose to slide or swing (on monkey bars and swings), as well as play tag or pretend the playground is a fort.

 

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Another update soon!

[Guest Caddienoah]

I like your zoo...the use of different types of shapes and foliage...various animals...and different buildings...looking forward to seeing more...

[pukkie]

Nice additions you designed in your zoo and your screens are really nice

[Firehawke]

I love how your zoo looks so far! What a great idea :Yess_: I've thought of trying somthing like this myself, but I just haven't gotten the courage to do it. So, kudos to you for doing it!

 

Are you using dls from just ZTP, or from all around?

 

Can't wait to see more!

 

BTW, nice to see a familiar face! And thanks for the comment!

[Sher Shah Suri]

Thanks, Firehawke! So far the only downloaded buildings are from here, but some of the animals and most of the foliage are from other sites. ;)

[Eragon845]

I'm so sorry I couldn't comment earlier, PT! It looks wonderful! I really like the building and Amur Tiger/Amur Leopard exhibit! Another great one is the panda exhibit.