{"id":548504,"date":"2026-01-28T05:44:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T05:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/548504\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T05:44:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T05:44:23","slug":"name-a-cockroach-after-your-ex-at-brookfield-zoo-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/548504\/","title":{"rendered":"Name a Cockroach After Your Ex at Brookfield Zoo Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

Regardless of whether Valentine\u2019s Day makes you swoon or scowl, Brookfield Zoo<\/a> has a perfectly petty (and philanthropic) way to mark the occasion: naming a cockroach after your ex.<\/p>\n

The zoo\u2019s annual Name a Cockroach fundraiser<\/a> is back for the season of love, inviting romantics, Galentines and the gloriously unbothered to symbolically christen a Madagascar hissing cockroach in honor of someone special\u2026 or not-so-special. For a $15 donation, you can assign a first name to one of the famously resilient insects, all while supporting the zoo\u2019s conservation and animal care work.<\/p>\n

After donating, you\u2019ll receive a customizable digital Certificate of Naming, ideal for sharing, framing or sending along (we won\u2019t judge). Names submitted by February 5 will also appear on the Cockroach Naming Board outside the Hamill Family Play Zoo, which is unveiled on Valentine\u2019s Day itself. Yes, you can visit in person to see that name living on in roach-related glory.<\/p>\n

The fundraiser first launched in 2020 and comes with a side of redemption for one of nature\u2019s most misunderstood creatures. Cockroaches may not scream romance, but they do play an important ecological role\u2014and the zoo is happy to supply some wild Valentine\u2019s trivia to balance out the snark. Flamingos can bend their long necks into a half-heart shape thanks to 19 cervical vertebrae. North American river otters aren\u2019t monogamous, despite what greeting cards suggest. And male golden-silk orb weaver spiders keep mating brief if they want to avoid becoming dinner.<\/p>\n

If cockroach-naming isn\u2019t quite your love language, the zoo is also rolling out a full slate of Valentine\u2019s-adjacent experiences. New this year is ROAR-mantic Rhythms, a jazz dinner with a 1920s vibe, complete with a five-course meal, cocktails, live music and an up-close animal encounter. There\u2019s also \u201cGlow Wild: A Lantern Festival of Hope,\u201d opening March 19, which turns the zoo into a nighttime wonderland of illuminated wildlife sculptures.<\/p>\n

For gifts that skew wholesome rather than petty, options range from up-close Wild Connections animal encounters to honorary animal adoptions (penguin Empanada included) and year-long zoo memberships. The zoo is also currently offering free admission days through the end of February, with winter hours running daily from 10 am to 4 pm.<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re celebrating love, friendship or sweet, symbolic closure, nothing says \u201cI\u2019ve moved on\u201d quite like a cockroach with your ex\u2019s name on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Regardless of whether Valentine\u2019s Day makes you swoon or scowl, Brookfield Zoo has a perfectly petty (and philanthropic)…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":548505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[10336,960,5386,1818,30302,1072],"class_list":["post-548504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-categories-things-to-do","tag-chicago","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-news-weird-wonderful","tag-things-to-do"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115971140111884461","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}