Randall Oaks Zoo in West Dundee celebrates its 60th anniversary this month with a gift for the public — the opening of its new World of Wonders building.
“This will be a great addition for the community to enjoy,” Dundee Township Park District Executive Director Dave Peterson said of the venue, which was unveiled to the public Friday and will allow the zoo to be open year-round.
Zoo manager Sara Peters said its name is meant to emphasize the wide variety of animals it houses with a focus on three biomes: forest, desert and grassland life. Habitats have been created for an array of small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
Construction on the $1.6 million, 2,200-square-foot building began last fall, park district Deputy Director Ross Bertone said. It was completed in April but staff needed a few months to ready the indoor space for public viewing, he said.
More than half of the funding — $850,000 — came from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Museum Capital Grant program, Bertone said. The rest was from money the district had in reserve.
Several new animals have been added to the zoo’s collection as part of the new building’s menagerie, officials said.
Sure to be popular are their three prairie dog pups, who like to scamper about, hide in brush and bags, and take runs on a wheel, Peters said.
“They are friendly. We bottle-raised them,” she said.
Staff members named the trio after the kids in the animated TV show “Bob’s Burgers” — Tina, Gene and Louise. Each has different colored nail polish so staff can tell them apart, Peters said.
Another new addition is a blue death-feigning beetle, which is native to northwestern Mexico and the American southwest. It’s living in an area near a Madagascar hissing cockroach.
In a nod to an Aesop’s fable, the building has rabbits housed in a pen next to two African tortoises.
“Many people don’t realize you’ll find rabbits living in the same desert environment as tortoises,” Peters said.
Also new are a South American green tree boa snake and a rare white Virginia opossum. The latter came from a rehab facility because its condition, called leucism, makes it easy prey to spot and means it would be unlikely to survive in the wild for long.
Also worth checking out, she said, is an iguana that was too big for the public viewing area until World of Wonders was built, she said.
What’s nice abut the new building, officials said, is that it provides two additional family restrooms for zoo patrons as well as a new animal commissary operation space with a large refrigerator/freezer and its own washer and dryer.
Before it was built, staff had to take soiled items to a local self-service laundry, manager Meghan Blahnik said.
“That included everything from stuffed animals to blankets used by ponies,” Blahnik said.
The old zoo barn, which used to house some of the critters moved to World of Wonders, will remain in use during the summer for visiting groups, who are shown “ambassador” animals like guinea pigs, a skunk and a python snake, Peters said. When the barn closes for the winter, those animals visit schools, senior living communities and other places, she said.
Among those on hand for the opening was intern Holly Gilchrist, a Northbrook and wildlife ecology and management student at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She’s spent the summer months preparing the venue for the public.
“This has been an awesome opportunity,” Gilchrist said.
The only portion of the building not yet open is the permanent pony ride pavilion being constructed to replace the outdoor location. The project is expected to be finished before year’s end, the zoo’s website said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
