I’ve invested all my cash in Beanie Babies. And even if I had $1 million to donate anonymously, I wouldn’t pick Glen Oak Zoo expansion.
Tags: Glen Oak Park, Glen Oak Zoo
Don’t look at me …
By Billy Dennis on September 22nd, 2006
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
Although the comment about the zoo employees “doing the gibbon dance” almost makes it worth it!
[...] Glancing over the paper this morning, I had a sinking suspicion that the anonymous donor to the zoo was Bill Dennis, but he claim’s it wasn’t him. I’d still like to thank whomever the anonymous donor is for bringing the new zoo that much closer to fruition, even if the majority of the blogosphere thinks it’s a bunch of crap. [...]
If private donors want to support the new Zoo – Cool. Let them. We’ll have a cooler zoo to visit.
My concern is this, though – these are not cold weather animals! Lions like it hot all the time, not just July and August. Giraffes too. Don’t they? I’m no animal-ologist, or whatever it’s called – but they can’t keep elephants at the Lincoln Park Zoo anymore because they keep dying. Shouldn’t that say something about African animals in Illinois?
I love monkeys!
“My concern is this, though – these are not cold weather animals! Lions like it hot all the time, not just July and August. Giraffes too. Don’t they? I’m no animal-ologist, or whatever it’s called – but they can’t keep elephants at the Lincoln Park Zoo anymore because they keep dying. Shouldn’t that say something about African animals in Illinois?”
And you know this because? How do YOU know that lions LIKE it hot all the time?
The elephants in Lincoln Park Zoo did not die from exposure to cold temps.
So, the San Diego Zoo should not have polar bears or penguins because they die in the warm weather there?
That’s right. They shouldn’t have ducks, either.
Lions used to roam central Europe, where it gets cold too. I think Lions can handle Illinois.
FWIW, Omaha’s zoo has heated buildings inside which the lions and giraffes live during the winter.