Rockford Zoo

Rockford Zoo (Also known as Rockford Zoological Gardens) is a large AZA-Accredited public zoological park in Rockford, Illinois with 310 species on exhibit. It is a facility of the Rockford Park District and open year round. The Zoo opened in 1957, and as of today is a huge facility and lacks any charismatic animals (no big cats (save for Cougars), no Giraffes, etc.) found in normal zoos, but consists of Elephants, Polar Bears, Native American Species, Farm Animals, Red Pandas, Zebras, Gibbons, Stingrays, Komodo Dragons, Otters, Bobcats, Penguins, Seals, Kiwis, Camels, Mandrills, Pelicans, etc. The Zoo has been a certified autism center since 2019. The Zoo has over 200,000 visitors annually.
== History ==
In 1919, the Rockford Zoological Society was founded, and operated the short lived Blackhawk Park Zoo. The star attraction was "Big Babe," a female Asian Elephant donated by the Ringling Bros. Circus. While Babe's addition delighted visitors, she worried zoo officials who discovered that the elephant's appetite ate up the zoo's budget. In 1921, the Rockford Park District turned down the Zoological Society's request for additional funding to finance the Elephant's appetite. The Blackhawk Park Zoo was shut down later on.
In 1947, after the second World War, the Rockford Park District bought a large chunk of land in the Rockford Area. They intended it to be another park, but after one of the staff members of the district rescued an orphaned Red Fox cub, it began to attract the locals after it was adapted. The man who rescued the fox suggested the fox to be put on the same chunk of land and make it a new zoo. The City of Rockford was slothful at first of implementing this proposal; but in 1950, the mayor and city council set aside and broke ground on the fact if land for the park district. Construction of the zoo began in 1953 and on June 1957, the Rockford Zoo was officially open to the public by the same zoological society, showing off mostly farm animals, native species and the rescued fox, but the main attraction was a herd of elephants rescued from a circus.
Over the years, the zoo has grown and expanded, even renovating some exhibits and is now home to species from across the world. The polar bear exhibit was added in 1990, and was slightly modified in 2002. The Zoo was an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) since 1993. In 2005, Kiwis arrived at the facility by New Zealand as a gift to the city.
== Animals and Exhibits ==
=== Entrance Plaza ===
# American Alligator
# North American River Otter
# Great Horned Owl
# Snowy Owl
# Great Grey Owl
# Cinereous Vulture
=== Family Farm ===
# Swedish Blue Duck
# Cayuga Duck
# Rhode Island Red Chicken
# Silkie Chicken
# Brahma Chicken
# Barn Owl
# Crested Duck
# Indian Runner Duck
# Orpington Duck
# White Pekin Duck
# Black Angus Cow
# Guernsey Cow
# Guinea Hog
# Llama
# Miniature Donkey
# Miniature Horse
#Suffolk Sheep
#Montdale Sheep
#Fjord Horse
#Nubian Goat
#Nigerian Dwarf Goat
#Zebu
#Meishan Pig
#Dromedary Camel
#San Clemente Island Goat
#Alpaca
#Call Duck
#American Pygmy Goat
#Guinea Pig
#Hereford Cow
#Holstein Cow
#Kunekune Pig
#Ossabaw Island Hog
#Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig
#Juliana Pig
#Royal Palm Turkey
#Jacob Sheep
#Domestic Rabbit
#Navajo Churro Sheep
#Western Honey Bee
#Highland Cattle
#Cotswold Sheep
#Arabian Horse
#Fallow Deer
#Holland Chicken
#American Belgian Draft Horse
#Kiko Goat
=== Forest Trail ===
# Bald Eagle
# North American Porcupine
# Raccoon
# Red Fox
# Bobcat
# American Kestrel
# American Badger
# Ruffed Grouse
# Blue Jay
# Cedar Waxwing
# Eastern Bluebird
# Eastern Screech Owl
# Hairy Woodpecker
# Hermit Thrush
# Killdeer 
# Wood Duck
# Northern Cardinal
# Northern Flicker
# Northern Pintail
# Redhead Duck
# Ringed Turtle Dove
# Rose Breasted Grosbeak
# Mallard Duck
# Tennessee Warbler
# Veery
# Red Tailed Hawk
# Sandhill Crane
# Grey Heron
# North American Beaver
# Red Wolf
# Turkey Vulture
# American Black Bear
# North American Cougar
# White Tailed Deer
# Coyote
# Canada Lynx
# Prairie Dog
# American Bison
# Pronghorn
# Arctic Fox
# Striped Skunk
# Wild Turkey
# Barred Owl
# Burrowing Owl
# American Mink
# Wolverine
# Merlin
# Virginia Opossum
# Groundhog
# Peregrine Falcon
# American Marten
# Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel
# Common Pheasant
# Mississippi Kite
=== Forest Building ===
# Eastern Ratsnake
# Diamondback Terrapin
# Blanding's Turtle
# Pine Snake
# Eastern Milk Snake
# Painted Turtle
# Three Toed Box Turtle
# Alligator Snapping Turtle
# Spotted Turtle
# Painted Wood Turtle
# Eastern Box Turtle
# Red Eared Slider
# European Mantis
# Tiger Salamander
# Eastern Newt
# Spring Salamander
# Eastern Hellbender
# Broad Headed Skink
# Queen Snake
# Belted Kingfisher
#European Hedgehog
#American Pygmy Shrew
#Deer Mouse
#Corn Snake
#American Bullfrog
#Axolotl
#American Toad
#Green Tree Frog
#Northern Leopard Frog
#Wood Frog
#Mole Salamander
#Northern Map Turtle
#Ouachita Map Turtle
#Common Carp
#Alligator Gar
#Lake Sturgeon
#Coho Salmon
#Flathead Catfish
#Largemouth Bass
#Northern Pike
#Blue Catfish
#Channel Catfish
#White Bullhead
#Longnose Sucker
#Muskellunge
=== Asia ===
# Red Panda
# Sichuan Takin
# Bactrian Camel
# Bukharan Markhor
# Japanese Macaque
# White Naped Crane
# Red Crowned Crane
# Golden Pheasant
# Silver Pheasant
# Brown Eared Pheasant
# Binturong 
# Reeves's Muntjac
# Chinese Goral
=== Africa: Beasts Big & Small ===
# Meerkat
# Aardvark
# Red River Hog
# Grey Crowned Crane
# Grant's Zebra
# Ostrich
# Impala
# Thomson's Gazelle
# Blue Crane
# Marabou Stork
# African Elephant
# Aldabra Giant Tortoise
# White Stork
# Pied Crow
# Naked Mole Rat
# African Giant Milipede
# Bearded Barbet
# Fennec Fox
# Bat Eared Fox
# Warthog
# Serval
# Mandrill
# Ankole Watusi Cattle
=== Coasts ===
# Harbor Seal
# Humboldt Penguin
# Atlantic Puffin
# Tufted Puffin
# Brown Pelican
# Polar Bear
=== Stingray Bay ===
# Cownose Ray
# Southern Stingray
=== Zoo Center ===
# Komodo Dragon
#White Handed/Lar Gibbon
#Indian Flying Fox
#Military Macaw
#Hooded Parrot
#Blood Python
#Electric Eel
#Southern Tamandua
#Chinchilla
#Patagonian Mara/Cavy
#North Island Brown Kiwi
#Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
#Giant Pacific Octopus
#Moon Jellyfish
#Pacific Sea Nettle
#California King Crab 
#Red Lionfish 
#Atlantic Tarpon 
#Green Moray Eel 
#Nurse Shark 
#Gila Monster 
#Greater Roadrunner 
#Gambel's Quail 
#Desert Tortoise 
#Southern Three Banded Armadillo 
#White Nosed Coati 
#Madagascar Hissing Cockroach 
#Mexican Red Knee Tarantula 
#Dyeing Poison Dart Frog 
#Yellow Banded Poison Dart Frog 
#Blue Poison Dart Frog 
#Red Eyed Tree Frog 
#Japanese Giant Salamander 
#European Legless Lizard/Sheltopusik 
#Scarlet Macaw 
#Blue and Yellow Macaw 
#Keel Billed Toucan 
#Domestic Ferret 
#Brazilian Prehensile Tailed Porcupine 
#Ball Python 
#Florida Box Turtle 
#Indonesian Blue Tongued Skink 
#Leopard Gecko 
#Argentine Black and White Tegu
#Giant Forest Scorpion 
#Goliath Birdeater 
#Brown House Snake 
#Hoffmann's Two Toed Sloth 
#Red Bellied Piranha 
#Tawny Frogmouth 
#Thorny Devil 
#Merten's Water Monitor 
#Tokay Gecko 
#Yellow Rat Snake 
#Lesser Jerboa 
#Pygmy Slow Loris 
#Greater Mouse Deer 
#Fly River Turtle/Pig Nosed Turtle
#Emerald Tree Boa 
#Golden Lion Tamarin 
#Black Capped Squirrel Monkey 
#Desert Monitor 
#Chacoan Peccary
#California Condor 
=== Flamingo Territory and Zoo Lake ===
# Mute Swan
#Black Swan
#Trumpeter Swan
#Canada Goose
#Mandarin Duck
#Snow Goose
#Ross's Goose
#Crackling Goose
#Tundra Swan
#Common Loon
#Muscovy Duck
#Koi
#American Flamingo
=== Zoo North ===
# Reindeer
# Ural Owl
# Steller's Sea Eagle
# Golden Eagle
# Persian Onager
# Dall Sheep
# European Bison/Wisent
=== Budgie Landing ===
# Budgerigar/Budgie
=== Butterfly Garden ===
# Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
# Monarch Butterfly
# Cabbage White Butterfly
# Black Swallowtail
# Orange Sulphur Butterfly
# Clouded Sulphur Butterfly
# Eastern Tailed Blue Butterfly
# Spring Azure Butterfly
# Summer Azure Butterfly
#Viceroy Butterfly 
#Hackberry Emperor Butterfly
#Red Spotted Purple Butterfly
#Question Mark Butterfly
#Eastern Comma Butterfly
#Mourning Cloak Butterfly
#Lady Admiral Butterfly
#American/Painted Lady Butterfly
#Common Buckeye Butterfly
#Pearl Crescent Butterfly
#Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly
#Little Wood Satyr Butterfly
#Northern Pearly Eye Butterfly
#Eyed Brown Butterfly
#Common Wood Nymph
#Silver Spotted Skipper Butterfly
=== Free Roaming Animals ===
# Indian Peafowl
# Helmeted Guineafowl
# Eastern Gray Squirrel
# Eastern Chipmunk
== Other Attractions and Facilities ==
=== Zoo Train ===
A wireless electric train called the zoo train is a well known attraction. It is ADA certified, making it wheelchair accessible to kids and adults.
=== Bug Carousel ===
Opened in 2006, the Bug Carousel has seats shaped like insects, and is very popular for zoo visitors.
=== Camel and Pony rides ===
Children can ride camels and ponies in the zoo's family farm.
=== Facilities ===
· Visitor Center
· Event Center
· Fossil Dig
· Nature Playground
· Rockford University Center For Animal Care
· Zoo Gift Shop
· Africa Playground
· Zoo Nature Center
== Events ==
=== Boo at the Zoo ===
Sponsored by Meijer, Boo at the Zoo is the Zoo's annual Halloween Event. The event is geared to children, and takes place in October. Visitors are encouraged to wear Halloween Costumes to the zoo. The event offers Trick-or-Treating, Animal Shows, Hay Rides, and other fall and Halloween related activities.
=== PNC Wild Holiday Lights ===
The Zoo's annual Christmas themed event sponsored by PNC Bank. The event features Christmas Lights which are placed across the zoo. Children can also meet Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and their reindeer (which are actually the zoo's resident Reindeer).
=== Dinosaur Forest ===
Every other year, since 2016, the zoo hosts Dinosaur Forest which features animatronic dinosaurs by Billings Productions, as well as dinosaur dig sites for children.
=== Other Events ===
· Arbor Day at the Zoo
· Brews and Beasts
· Mother's Day at the Zoo
· Father's Day At the Zoo
· Woo at the Zoo
· Party for the Planet
· Wild Easter Eggstravaganza
· Zoo Snooze
· Fiesta Safari
· Yoga at the Zoo
· Rockford Zoo Movie Time!
· Free Admission Day
· Thanksgiving at the Zoo
== Education ==
Educational programs are funded with support of the Rockford Park District and Rockford Zoological Society. Important school based programs include six weeks of private zoo camp offered for Winnebago and Boone County students, five weeks of public zoo camp, discovery tours and off-zoo grounds Wild Mobile programs.
== Mascot ==
Rocky the Polar Bear is the mascot of the zoo and the Rockford Park District as a whole. Rocky appears annually in Boo at the Zoo and Wild Holiday Lights and some other events. Elvis the Elephant is the zoo's secondary mascot since elephants are the zoo's symbol.
== Notable Animals ==
· In 2022, the brought in Luke, an abused elephant from a roadside zoo in Wisconsin. He was bought due to his horrible condition and the zoo wanted a better home for him. 
· Pancake, an Albino American Black Bear was born in the Zoo in 2006. She is a popular Zoo animal. The zoo has many albino animals.
· Rufus, the Zoo's Popular Albino Alligator.
== Gallery ==
File:1673381679453-1.png|Zoo Logo
File:Rockford Zoo Brochure.png|Zoo Brochure
File:Rockford Zoo Bison.png
File:Rockford Zoo Takin.png
File:Rockford Zoo Red Panda.png
File:Rockford Zoo Polar Bear.png
File:Rockford Zoo Seal.png
File:Rockford Zoo Key Visual.png
File:Rockford Zoo Promotional Poster.png|Poster
File:New-chick kiwi MM.webp|The Zoo's new Kiwi chick
File:Rockford Zoo Billboard.png|Billboard
File:Rockford Zoo Banners 1.png
File:Rockford Zoo Banners 2.png
File:Rockford Zoo Banners 3.png
File:Rockford Zoo Brochure 2.png|Another brochure, featuring Pancake the Albino Bear
File:64552a49e01d9.preview.jpg|Rufus
File:C3de763d-1a4a-4c0d-bc13-97e5ee11142a-Holly Hazel Big Bear Alpine Zoo.jpg|Mountain Lions
File:Penguin.jpg|Penguins
File:Rockford Zoo Elephant Family.jpeg|Elephants
File:Rockford Zoo Postcard.png|Elephant Postcard
File:Rockford Zoo Postcard 2.png|Red Panda Postcard
File:Rockford Zoo Postcard 3.png|Owl Postcard
File:Rockford Zoo Membership Card.png|Membership Card
File:Rockford Zoo Budgies.png|Budgies Postcard
File:Rockford Zoo Keychain.png|Key Chain
File:Rockford Zoo Shirt.png|Shirt
File:Rockford Zoo Coyote Postcard.png|Coyote Postcard
File:Rockford Zoo Zebra Postcard.png|Zebra Postcard
File:Rockford Zoo Barn Owl Postcard.png|Barn Owl Postcard
File:Rockford Zoo Otter Postcard.png|Otter Postcard
File:Rockford Zoo Polar Bear Postcard.png|Polar Bear Postcard
File:Rockford Zoo Dinosaur Forest logo.png|Dinosaur Forest logo
File:Rockford Zoo Dinosaur Forest Brochure.png|Dinosaur Forest brochure
Category:Zoos
Category:Attractions
Category:Animal parks
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Category:Aquariums