Baby animals get their due all year round, but springtime is when they really shine: As their population is blessedly replenished, it’s the only time of year when they’re truly topical—newsworthy, almost. Back in 1953, the baby animals at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo made the pages of LIFE when they staged an impromptu rebellion against thousands of children in the zoo’s newly opened children’s section. Failing to differentiate between the live animals and their stuffed ones at home, the adoring children poked and prodded little llamas and kangaroos until the animals had had enough.
“Some animals fought back,” the magazine stated. “A monkey grabbed a woman’s lipstick. A baboon hit a boy. A llama who had had his fill of popcorn discovered a way to say so, and a loud-mouthed mother stalked away, yelling, ‘That dirty brazen creature poked me in the rear!'”
The zoo quickly made modifications to the animals’ fencing so as to prevent another love-fueled fiasco.
Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.
Caption from LIFE. Duck's long neck provides nice handhold for boy as other children tackle other areas.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Hands swarm over dazed lion cub, Caesar, who came down with case of overaffection.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Children lovingly assault a baby kangaroo by grabbing her neck and tickling her chin.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesChildren visiting Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesBaby llamas at the Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Sea elephant makes mistake of leaving pool and runs into yo-yos. Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Unsuspecting elephant is worked over by the youngsters, who stood in line to give him a careful hand examination. "He feels funny," one remarked.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesA baby kangaroo is bottle-fed at Brookfield Children's Zoo, Chicago, 1953.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesA lion cub in a basket at the Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesA baby elephant at the Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesAn outtake from the photo essay "Zoo's babies get overdose of love" at the Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesA goat perches on a table at the Brookfield Children's Zoo, Chicago, 1953.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Popcorn-stuffed baby llamas, too full to walk, are lifted to cage.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
