Brookfield Zoo is a 235-acre AZA-accredited zoological park in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. It is home to 3,481 animals belonging to 511 species. The Chicago Zoological Society, a private nonprofit organisation, operates the zoo, on land owned by the Forest Preserves of Cook County.
Dr. Michael Adkesson was appointed president and CEO of the Chicago Zoological Society and director of Brookfield Zoo in 2021. He has a background in veterinary medicine, science, research, and conservation, and training and experience in business and management.
He completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Illinois, followed by a residency in zoological medicine at the Saint Louis Zoo and University of Missouri, prior to accepting an associate veterinarian position at Brookfield Zoo in 2008. Adkesson then became vice president of clinical medicine in 2012. He oversaw the Society’s veterinary programmes and hospital operations, before taking on the role of president and CEO.
Dr. Michael Adkesson
In addition to overseeing the care of the animals at Brookfield Zoo, Adkesson has also spent more than a decade working in the field. He has overseen conservation programmes in Peru focused on Humboldt penguins, Peruvian fur seals, and other coastal marine wildlife.
An adjunct clinical professor at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, he has trained veterinary students, interns, and residents. With a passion for growing local capacity for wildlife conservation, Dr. Adkesson also holds an associate position with Cayetano Heredia University in Peru. He also provides student mentorship for the university.
He is a board-certified specialist in zoological medicine by both the American College of Veterinary Medicine and the European College of Zoological Medicine, a Professional Fellow of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and a past president of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians. Among other professional roles and affiliations, he is also a member of the European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians and the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine.
Adkesson is an advocate for the importance of zoos in today’s society. He believes zoos are in a unique position to inspire the public to care more about wildlife and nature.
Brookfield Zoo
His interest in animals and conservation began at an early age.
“I started out in a youth volunteer programme at Scovill Zoo in my hometown of Decatur, Illinois, when I was about eight years old,” he tells Blooloop:
“I’m not sure if I had expressed an interest, or my mom was just trying to get me out of the house in the summertime. Either way, it stuck. I loved everything about the programme. I loved being around animals and I loved having a chance to share those experiences with guests coming through the zoo. So, I volunteered with that programme until I was 15, and able to join the staff.”
Adkesson worked as a part-time zookeeper from that point forward. He has been in his current role as director since 2021 but has been at Brookfield Zoo since 2008.
“I started out here as a clinical veterinarian and worked in that capacity for a number of years. Then I moved into a leadership role over our animal hospital and our animal healthcare programmes,” he explains:
“I have loved every minute of that. I still love the idea of working with animals and being a veterinarian, but this opportunity was just so exciting. It was a chance to have an impact in a completely different way. I’m excited about where we’re headed as an organisation, and what lies ahead.”
An innovative zoo
Identifying the elements that set Brookfield Zoo apart, he says:
“It was one of the first zoos in the United States not to have animals in barred exhibits. It was very revolutionary in its time. Back in the 1930s, it opened with this idea of having exhibits where you were looking at animals against a more naturalistic backdrop.”
“One of the things I love about it is the zoo has embraced that idea of bold new initiatives, in terms of habitats and in the science and research programmes that take place behind the scenes, our healthcare operations, our conservation programmes here locally in people’s backyards, working with native Chicago based wildlife all the way through national and international programmes around the world. It’s just a fantastic organisation.
“The people are so passionate about the organisation, and about our mission and what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Connecting people with conservation
Concerning connecting people with conservation, he says:
“It’s a combination of catching that emotional connection, and also, in my mind, it’s that element of fun. People learn so much better and are so much more open to ideas and more receptive when they’re having a fun day out.
“A big part of what we do is recreation-based. We are providing that opportunity for families to spend time together, to be outside enjoying a beautiful day surrounded by happy people, happy animals, and happy activities. I think that goes such a long way. When people are enjoying what they’re doing, they listen better, and they form those emotional connections.”
“They have that magical experience with an animal that helps them to understand how they can make an impact from a conservation standpoint.”
This may be something as simple as seeing wildlife at the zoo and hearing about how animals in the wild can become severely injured by becoming tangled in a monofilament line:
“That person may be a fisherman, and the next time they’re here locally fishing in a pond, they’re going to take that extra time to cut the line and dispose of it properly, rather than just casting it loose into the lake.”
Tiny behaviour changes can make a huge difference.
Inside Brookfield Zoo
The zoo is around 235 acres in size:
“About half of that is developed into property,” he says:
“The other half of the property is in a very natural state as part of the forest preserve network of Cook County. There are beautiful grounds. There is a mix of the 1930s formal garden appearance along the centre of the zoo, but as you get off that central mall, you end up in a much more natural forested area. Here, our habitats are able to more naturally mimic native habitats for many of the animals.”
“We have about 3000 animals in our care here, depending on where you draw the line between schools of fish and groups of invertebrates and that type of thing. It’s a big place, and it’s hard to see it all in one day.
“That’s one of the wonderful things that get people excited about coming back again. Every time you’re here, you have the opportunity to see something different.”
Conservation programmes
The zoo does both in-situ and ex-situ conservation programmes. Elaborating on that, Adkesson says:
“Within the zoo, we participate in a wide variety of breeding programmes, in partnership with AZA zoos and aquariums. These are aimed at making sure that we’re managing a sustainable population of these animals. In many cases, those programmes directly interface with programmes in the wild. There are a number of different animals here at the zoo that directly contribute to ex-situ conservation programmes.”
“Our Mexican grey wolves are a great example of that. We have had litters of wolves born here at the zoo, and those pups have been placed back into the wild with a wild mother in a den site where they’ve grown up with a wild pack in the southeastern United States, Arizona and New Mexico, and are directly contributing to recovery programmes for that species in the wild.”
Fieldwork and research
The zoo also has numerous programmes that are purely ex-situ. He explains:
“I can give a couple of great examples of those. The first is our Sarasota Dolphin research programme. This focuses on bottlenose dolphins and other species of dolphins, and the dolphins of Mexico.”
“That programme has been in existence for 51 years. It is a very long-running programme that incorporates research themes around everything from animal movements where they’re using habitat all the way up to what they’re eating, what their health is, what their exposure to environmental toxicants looks like, and all of the different ways that we can make a conservation impact to protect that marine wildlife.
“Another great example is our fieldwork programmes down in Punta San Juan, Peru. Here, we work with Humboldt Penguins, South American fur seals and sea lions, and a variety of seabird species. In a way that is very similar to the work with the dolphins. We’re really looking at all of the different potential threats facing those endangered species in the wild, and all of the different actions that we can take to protect them.”
Making positive changes
Adkesson identifies these positive pushbacks against the daunting issues facing wildlife globally as one of the great things about being at Brookfield Zoo:
“Every single day you feel there’s something positive that our teams are doing around the world to protect wildlife.”
He tries to feel positive in the face of the threats facing the natural world:
“I couldn’t be here every day if I didn’t have that optimistic outlook. There are a lot of challenges facing the natural world around us. But I also genuinely think there’s a tremendous amount of hope.
“Here at the zoo, we work very hard to engage kids at an early age in early childhood education programmes that are centred around simply getting kids off a screen and outside into nature, encouraging and letting them have those firsthand experiences that we hope will resonate with them throughout their life so that they will look to make positive changes over time in terms of how we view and treat the world around us, what we value concerning wildlife, nature, and what they can do on a daily basis to help.”
Brookfield & the role of a good zoo
Turning to the issue of the importance of good modern zoos in today’s world, he comments:
“There are a number of different points that fall on that. Firstly, zoos are very different organisations from the way they were a hundred years ago. I think that we have to continue to tell that narrative and bring people along on that journey. A lot of people still think of zoos as places for animals that are pulled out of the wild and put in a barred cage, and that are there just for the entertainment and enjoyment of the people that come through the zoo. We have moved so far past that.”
The animals in the zoo now are there for a purpose:
“In some cases, like the wolves I talked about, these animals are bred at the zoo to be directly reintroduced into the wild to aid conservation programmes,” he says. “But even those animals that may spend their entire life in a zoo are providing an emotional touchpoint for people in an ever increasingly urbanised society.”
Animal care is a priority
In many cases, people who grow up in urban areas have no connection to nature or to different animal species.
“And there’s nothing that replicates that,” continues Adkesson. “You can watch a video about an elephant in Africa or a dolphin in Florida. But it is not the same as seeing those animals up close and having the time to be around them and enjoy the behaviours, the play, and the life that they’re living.
“Our animals are given the absolute highest level of care. A cornerstone of what we do is making sure that our animals are well cared for, that they’re healthy, and that they’re happy. They are our number one priority.”
Some people still feel, however, that even great zoos such as Brookfield shouldn’t exist, and that all animals belong in nature. There can be, Adkesson comments, an unrealistically idealistic view of what ‘the wild’ constitutes:
“The wild is a pretty horrible place in a lot of ways. And, with the impacts that we keep having as a human race on the planet, we are not helping it be a romantic and beautiful place for animals to live. I think people lose sight of that, or they don’t want to admit that or recognize that.
“Sadly, it isn’t invariably the case that all animals are so much better off in the wild.”
Plans for the future at Brookfield Zoo
In terms of the zoo, Adkesson has plans for a number of new habitats and experiences. He says:
“We have broken ground on a new habitat for our gorillas, orangutans and a number of our monkey species. This tropical forest expansion will be opening in the spring of 2025. It’s a 66 million project; one of the largest undertakings that we as an organisation have taken, centred around getting animals into new outdoor habitats.”
“We built our Tropic World habitat in the 1980s. It was one of the original indoor rainforest experiences at a zoo and has been home to our primates for the last 40 years. This is an expansion to get these animals outdoors into more naturalistic environments. It’s about two acres of land that we’re turning back over to these animals in incredibly naturalistic and rich stimulating outdoor environments.
“It will expand the numbers that we’re able to house here at the zoo to support those conservation programmes. The expansion will get our guests up close, with just a pane of glass between them. So, they will really be able to experience these incredible animals in a way that they’ve not seen them before.”
New masterplan
He adds:
“That project is so exciting to us. We’re so eager to get it open. We just can’t wait to see these animals go outside. In some cases, it will be for the first time.”
The project will be the first phase of a new masterplan. He explains:
“We are working through that master planning process right now, with the intent to have that wrapped up by fall. That new master plan will take us through the zoo’s centennial celebration in 2034.
“Over that 12-year time course, we will make major investments in a number of different areas around the zoo. We will bring in new habitats and new animal spaces, and really invest in the future of the organisation.”
Top image: Young guests visiting Brookfield Zoo get an up-close look at one of the polar bears in the underwater viewing gallery at Great Bear Wilderness. All images credit CZS-Brookfield Zoo.
