Young bison making Elgin its new home
A young bison is the newest resident of Lords Park Zoo in Elgin, and the community - especially youths - will be invited to help name it in the spring.
The nearly 6-month-old female - which weighs about 350 pounds and is strong enough to withstand cold up to 30 degrees below zero - is acclimating well to her new home after arriving Monday, said Terry Gabel, president of the volunteer organization Friends of Lords Park Zoo, which purchased it from Fermilab in Batavia.
The zoo has two other bison, Drew and Becky, both females and about 16 years old. The new bison is being kept in an adjacent but separate area for about a month to ease the transition, Gabel said.
"Drew has taken interest toward her, which is good. They frequently lay across each other between the fence, and they sniff and smell and lick, and all that," he said. "Becky is the dominant female, and she doesn't show much concern and interest at this point."
The city of Elgin this year made improvements to the zoo's bison area, including a new chute, fence and shelter, at a cost of about $200,000 funded by the city's share of riverboat funds. The Friends group contributed about $9,500 for the chute and paid $1,500 to buy the bison, which was taken to Lords Park at no cost by farmer Will Duchaj, Gabel said.
Bison, which this year were named the United States' first national mammal, have lived at Lords Park Zoo since 1905.
"The community wants it and it gives us something that no other community has," Gabel said. "They require amazingly little care. They need to be fed and watered, of course, because there is no grazing out there. But they are perfectly happy to be in the area."
The initial plan was to bring in two new bison this year, but city officials decided introducing one at a time is a more cautious approach. "We're not in a rush," Gabel said. "We are glad to collaborate with the city; they've been a great partner. We will be getting another one next year, assuming everything goes as planned."
The zoo also has five deer - with more planned - and six elk, along with a seasonal farm zoo June through August that attracts more than 10,000 visitors per year, Gabel said. A nine-member board and about 45 active volunteers make it all possible, he said. "We have a lot of community involvement."
The goal is to keep admission free while adding more educational programs in partnership with the nearby Elgin Public Museum, Gabel said.