With summer right around the corner, the Ice Age Giants come to the Brookfield Zoo. The event begins on April 1 and runs through October 30, the exhibit is free with general admission. Visitors can journey around the zoo and gaze their eyes upon the animatronic ancient beasts, who once roamed the frozen wildlands of the earth. These life-sized animatronic giant creatures mainly roamed in North America and Eurasia when the Quaternary Ice Age began, which is about 2.6 million years ago.
The Ice Age Giants exhibit will timeline and state some theories on how the Ice Age animals went extinct, and how some of those same dangers have remained in the present. The exhibition will present illustrations of a timeline that stretches across five ice ages – Huronian (2.4-2.1 billion years ago), Cryogenian (720-635 million years ago), Andean-Saharan (450-420 million years ago), Late Paleozoic (360-260 million years ago) and the Quaternary (2.6 million years ago to present).
Some of the recreated Ice Giants will include the mastodon (18 feet long), woolly mammoth (15 feet tall), giant ground sloths (20 feet long), short-faced bear (11 feet long), giant ape (10 feet tall), saber-toothed cat (5 feet long), giant bird (12 feet tall), and many more. Visitors will be provided with signs all along the pathway, offering fun facts about the animals as to where they lived and how they compare to their modern-day relatives.
Luckily we can count our blessings that these creatures don’t come alive at night, making for a fun day event and escape for the whole family! Plus many more upcoming events happening at the Brookfield Zoo. For more, visit https://www.czs.org/IceAgeGiants.
