![112487768.jpg Baby llamas at the Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-05.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
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.
![00982009.JPG Duck's long neck provides nice handhold for boy as other children tackle other areas.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-01.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00982006.JPG Hands swarm over dazed linon cub, Caesar, who came down with case of overaffection.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-02.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00982003.JPG Children lovingly assault a baby kangaroo by grabbing her neck and tickling her chin.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-03.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00982013.JPG Children visiting at Brookfield Children's Zoo. Chicago, 1953.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-04.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![112487768.jpg Baby llamas at the Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-05.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00982008.JPG Sea elephant makes mistkae of leaving pool and runs into yo-yos.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-06.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00982002.JPG Unsuspecting elephant is worked over by the youngsters, who stood in line to give him a careful hand examination. "He feels funny," one remarked.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-07.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00982011.JPG Baby kangaroo being bottle fed at Brookfield Children's Zoo. Chicago, 1953.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-08.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![112487790.jpg A lion cub in a basket at the Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-09.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![112487802.jpg A baby elephant at the Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-10.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![112487963.jpg From "Zoo's babies get overdoes of love" at the Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-11.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![112487837.jpg From "Zoo's babies get overdoes of love" at the Brookfield Children's Zoo in Chicago, 1953.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-12.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00982005.JPG Popcorn-stuffed baby llamas, too full to walk, are lifted to cage.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160321-baby-animals-13.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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Write to Eliza Berman at eliza.berman@time.com