AssetID: 54436112
Headline: Brookfield Zoo's Allie The Dolphin Is Celebrating Pregnancy!
Caption: Staff at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago are delighted that Allie, their 37-year-old bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is pregnant. With her pregnancy now in its second trimester, Allie’s journey is being carefully monitored by the Zoo’s expert animal care and veterinary teams. Dolphin pregnancies, which span approximately 12 months and are divided into four-month trimesters, differ significantly from human gestation. Allie is expected to give birth over the summer. Through the trusting bonds and relationship built between her and the Zoo team, Allie willingly participates in voluntary medical check-ups—including routine ultrasound examinations and blood tests—which allow caretakers to ensure her health and document critical developmental milestones of the calf. Staff are expecting to see changes in her behaviors that indicate imminent labor as early as May. “This pregnancy is more than a joyous event for the Zoo—every dolphin pregnancy is an opportunity for us to advance our scientific knowledge and understanding of the biology and life sciences of marine mammals. It underscores our Zoo’s commitment to marine mammal conservation and enhances our field-based scientific research programs that benefit wild dolphin populations in the Gulf of Mexico and around the globe,” said Dr. Mike Adkesson, Brookfield Zoo Chicago president and CEO. “It also marks an important opportunity to inspire curiosity and conservation mindedness among our guests and future generations as they witness the Zoo’s first dolphin pregnancy in a decade.” As nearly one-third of marine mammals face the threat of extinction, Brookfield Zoo Chicago remains at the forefront of global efforts to protect these species. The Zoo’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP)—the world’s longest-running dolphin conservation research initiative for advancing understanding of bottlenose dolphin behavior, reproduction and health—has been a cornerstone of this work for over 55 years. Allie’s pregnancy isn’t just a moment of joy for her but provides a critical opportunity to study prenatal and neonatal dolphin care, as the first year of life for a dolphin calf, both in the wild and under professional human care, is filled with challenges and milestones it must reach. In the wild, nearly 20 percent of calves born to first-time mothers do not survive their first year. By leveraging decades of expertise and cutting-edge veterinary practices, the Brookfield Zoo Chicago team is optimistic about the birth this summer and aims to ensure a smooth delivery and healthy development for Allie’s calf, paving the way for improved welfare practices across the field. Guests to Brookfield Zoo Chicago can identify Allie by her distinctive features, including faint white lines along the sides of her head and chest, pink coloration on the underside of her slender rostrum and gray ventral side.
Keywords: Brookfield Zoo,feature,video,photo,dolphin
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