Big Stars
Elephants have lumbered through Brookfield Zoo’s history and created escapades of grand proportions.
 
Nancy Asian Elephant was among the zoo’s first animals. Among her credits, Nancy “trumpeted” for an early “talkie” film. In 1940, guests were agog when the zoo announced her pregnancy. That August, reportedly 40,000 people showed up for Nancy’s “baby shower” for which a tent manufacturer, a baker, and the National Dairy Council had donated, respectively, a huge bed jacket, an enormous birthday cake, and a 400-gallon nursing bottle. Later, officials announced sheepishly that Nancy wasn’t pregnant, merely gaining weight.
 
Ziggy was the zoo’s most famous elephant. This six-ton Asian elephant performed in the Ziegfeld Follies; Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey Circus; and Singer’s Midget Circus before arriving in Brookfield in 1936. After five uneventful years here, Ziggy suddenly and violently attacked his keeper, Slim Lewis. Lewis managed to escape with relatively little harm, but concerns by zoo officials about staff safety kept Ziggy mostly indoors for 29 years.
 
In late 1970, advances in knowledge of how to care for elephants in captivity and an international fundraising drive to purchase a safety door gave Ziggy access to the great outdoors for nearly the first time in three decades. After inspecting his yard and chewing on a pile of fruit and hay, Ziggy walked back inside. A revamped yard was completed for him 11 months later.