Historic bur oak tree cut down at Lincoln Park Zoo
CHICAGO (CBS)-- It was there long, long before new lion cubs Pesho, Sidai, and Lomelok made their recent debut.
It was there when Otto the Gorilla escaped in 1982 – and before he was the subject of a TV documentary about his move from the to a then-new Great Ape House five years before that.
It was there when Bushman – the famous gorilla who remains on display in taxidermy form at the Field Museum – died in 1951.
It was there when a couple of sea lions escaped in 1880 and one made it all the way to Clark Street and Armitage Avenue, as retold by the Chicago Reader.
It was there when the Lincoln Park Zoo built its first animal house in 1870.
It was there when two pairs of swans arrived in Lincoln Park as a gift from Central Park in New York in 1868.
It was there when Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 – and there was no zoo yet. And even a century before that.
But alas, a historic bur oak tree at the Lincoln Park Zoo reached the end of its natural life – and it was cut down on Tuesday.
CBS 2's Noel Brennan was there as a small crowd gathered to watch as a towering piece of history came down.
"It's just amazing. Just amazing," said Mario Corona.
Corona, a zoo volunteer, watched in wonder Tuesday – awestruck by a tree that took centuries to grow, and one morning to come down.
"They're making short work of it, though. That's for sure," Corona said. "It's just a wonderful bur oak tree that – lot of history. Lot of history."
Corona thought back through all the history the tree has seen.
"You think the Titanic. Then you go, wait a minute - The Chicago Fire, 1871. And you go, wait a minute - the Civil War! Then you go back, and you keep going back and back," he said. "You just wish that it had a button that you can talk to it and say, what was it like?"
After nearly three centuries, the zoo says the 70-foot oak has reached its natural end.
"I know that's life, but it's pretty sad to see such a majestic thing leave us, you know?" Corona said. "I know that it happens in life, but it's still sad. Yeah."
"It's a loss," Corona said. "For sure, it's a loss."
But the zoo will save what it can.
"We've been working with our partners, Morten Arboretum, who has been cultivating small scions onto rootstock to hopefully grow the next genetic lineage of this historic tree," said Maureen Leahy, vice president of Lincoln Park Zoo.
The tree will live on in partnership with The @MortonArboretum, where 36 of its scions were grafted onto rootstock for propagation, preserving its genetics. Slices of the felled tree will also be provided to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey to support dendrological...
— Lincoln Park Zoo (@lincolnparkzoo) April 28, 2023
While the once-towering oak tree no longer stands at the zoo, in memory, it is still firmly planted.
"It's just so majestic. So cool. So sad," Corona said.
The zoo hopes to save pieces of the tree for use in memorials, play spaces, and educational tools. Some local artists and woodworkers are also interested in making artwork from the remnants of the historic tree.
Rainy weather delayed the tree being cut down Monday.
Last Friday, zoo guests were invited to write thank-you notes to the tree that has shaded the same spot for centuries.