BROOKFIELD, Ill. (AP) — For 72 years, a 35-foot-high hill has dominated the west side of Brookfield Zoo, outside Chicago. On Thursday, the landmark exhibit was torn down to make room for a new habitat.

What will be built is a 3.5-acre Great Bear Wilderness, a sprawling, mostly outdoor grouping of large North American mammals, including brown bears, polar bears, bison and wolves. Bald eagles will live there as well.

Construction will begin in April on the new exhibit, a complex of separate but integrated animal habitats that zoo officials say will cost more than $10 million. It is scheduled to open by summer 2009.

Brookfield Zoo vice president Jo-Elle Mogerman says most animals destined for the new exhibit already live at the zoo, though some individuals probably will be added to the collection.

Posted 2/22/2008