On Aug. 26, 1868, two pairs of swans arrived in Lincoln Park, a gift from New York City’s Central Park. As the book “The Ark in the Park: The Story of Lincoln Park Zoo” points out, this was:
- Three years after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.
- Seven years after the Civil War began.
- Nine years after Charles Darwin published “The Origin of Species.”
- 11 years before Thomas Edison invented the carbon-filament lamp.
- 17 years before the first practical gas-powered automobile.
It’s the third oldest of its kind in operation, but unlike its 1850s predecessors Philadelphia Zoo and Central Park Zoo, the Lincoln Park Zoo has remained free to its patrons since its founding.
In its first 150 years, the zoo has experienced monumental births, constructed elegant structures for people and animals, promoted conservation efforts here and abroad, and taught generations of families about animals and their habitats.
Some of its practices have changed, too, which is why Lincoln Park Zoo has provided answers to some of our questions throughout this project.
Click a category below to learn more about the zoo’s history:
Aug. 26, 1868
First animals arrive
A contractor for the Illinois and Michigan Canal, Oliver B. Green, had an idea to make Lincoln Park more attractive than its natural beauty alone could provide, and he had the connection to make it happen — his brother was the comptroller for New York City’s Central Park.
In an August 1868 letter, Green asked “for a donation of some swans for Lincoln Park of this city.”
His request was almost immediately accepted and two pairs of mute swans, related to others that had earlier been given to Central Park by the cities of Hamburg, Germany, and London were bound for Chicago with instructions on their care: “Feed them with corn and put fresh grass into their enclosure until they get into the lake. …”
The swans lived in South Pond.
1869
Lincoln Park Act
“The people of Chicago want parks. There is no doubt of this. They are willing to be taxed to pay for them, if they see the principles of equity and justice embodied in the laws under which they are created,” reported the Feb. 9, 1869, Chicago Tribune.
In response to a desire around the city for parklands to be preserved, the state legislature created three park districts in 1869 — the South, West and Lincoln Park commissions — each responsible for the parks and roads in its division. (These independent park commissions would be consolidated into the Chicago Park District in 1934.)
This act established a special taxing jurisdiction and created the five-member Lincoln Park Commission. It also defined the borders for Lincoln Park — Diversey Parkway south to North Avenue — and allowed for additional land to be purchased to extend these boundaries over time.
The Lincoln Park Commission also was also responsible for exhuming and relocating bodies — thousands of them. City Cemetery was established there in 1843. With the potential for disease due to the water supply’s proximity to the grounds — which included Jewish and Catholic sections and a vast potter’s field, physicians lobbied to move the cemetery. By the 1880s, most of the 35,000 buried there (including 4,000 Confederate prisoners of war) had been moved. But not all. Construction and excavation occasionally reveal old skeletons.
1870
Original animal house built
According to “The Ark in the Park: The Story of Lincoln Park Zoo,” this structure was converted into a pavilion and moved to a beach just north of Diversey Boulevard.
May 1879
Bear pit completed
Next to the deer park, this habitat was constructed of limestone slabs and separated by iron fencing into three compartments, each including a recess or den, drinking and bathing pool, and grated doors. Visitors could observe the animals from either the ground level or a raised view atop the rockwork.
Other developments the same year include a prairie dog village to house animals brought in from the Cincinnati Zoo.
1888
Cyrus DeVry hired as keeper
He became the first public face of the Lincoln Park “menagerie” of animals.
When Lincoln Park’s “menagerie” began, its workers didn’t know much about how to house, feed and maintain its animals. Can you describe how your staff works to not only make sure its animals thrive, but also to help conserve those species that are threatened or endangered?
Today, Lincoln Park Zoo has 88 passionate animal care staff, eight veterinary staff, eight horticulture staff and dozens of volunteers who are dedicated to ensuring all living things at the zoo are receiving the best care possible. These staff are professionals who often have extensive animal care/plant expertise, educational background and are enrolled in continuing education courses to stay abreast of the latest in animal care and welfare. In addition, the zoo has created the Animal Welfare Science Program alongside five science centers dedicated to the conservation of species and the Nutrition Center, which provides individual diets for nearly 200 different species at the zoo. Lincoln Park Zoo provides the animals in its care opportunities to thrive by understanding the needs of individuals, group and populations as a whole. This multi-tiered approach to care and conservation enables us to continue learning and adapting to promote the best possible welfare zoo animals.
June 13, 1888
First elephant bought from circus
For the sum of $3,000, the zoo bought an 8-year-old female elephant later called “Duchess,” one camel, one lionness, one Bengal tiger, two leopards, one zebu, one llama and one ibex from the Barnum and Bailey Circus.
In a conversation with James Bailey, Lincoln Park Commission Secretary Edward S. Taylor asked, “What is a zebu?”
“It is an ox with a bump,” Bailey responded.
“And an ibex?”
“A sort of goat.”
“And a llama?”
I really don’t know,” said Bailey.
Does Lincoln Park Zoo still purchase animals from circuses or other entities?
Lincoln Park Zoo was one of the first zoos to decommercialize the transfer of animals and was also one of the first zoos to “loan” animals (which later became donations). A high-profile example was a loan of a group of gorillas (Freddie’s troop) to St. Louis Zoo in 1986.
Today, Lincoln Park Zoo does not sell any animals, and nearly all acquisitions are noncommercial. “We don’t have animals here because they’re assets with price tags attached to them. We also felt commercialization could affect our efforts to conserve species,” said Kevin J. Bell, zoo director, president and CEO.
July 25, 1889
19 sea lions from Santa Barbara, Calif., arrive
After traveling for a week by train car, sea lions joined one seal in Lincoln Park’s grotto.
They were captured by a Captain Cyrus Alvah Eastman, who hand-fed the sea lions fish throughout their journey to Chicago. “They get used to a man quickly,” he told a Chicago Tribune reporter. “I’ve no doubt they will eat from the keeper’s hand in a short time.”
Months later, zoo neighbors complained to commissioners about the noise created by these animals: ” … during the long watches of the night most of them, having no place to rest, swim back and forth in the pond and bark incessantly to express their disapproval of their cramped quarters,” stated an Oct. 22, 1889, Chicago Tribune story.
Circa 1889
Red-roofed cafe opens
As the collection of animals grew, so did the crowds, and some entrepreneurial fruit and vegetable merchants set up stands in the zoo to sell their foods. It was on that spot that the Landmark Cafe was built.
The lovely Victorian structure, with a striking cupola and many stained glass windows, is probably the oldest zoo concession stand in the country.
Oct. 18, 1892
Duchess the elephant escapes
The 18-year-old female elephant got loose from its handler outside its enclosure, then went on the run, demolishing the door of a saloon on North Avenue, smashing in the window of another and walking through the fence around a vacant lot. She was captured and led back to her stall by noon, according to an Oct. 19, 1892, Chicago Tribune story.
Sept. 19, 1900
Expert: Zoo should specialize in North American animals
In his examination of the zoo, conducted at the request of Lincoln Park Board of Commissioners President F.H. Gansbergen, George B. Wells advised animals native to the continent would give Lincoln Park “a distinctive place among the zoological parks of the country.” He also suggested animal quarters be enlarged and commended animal keeper Cyrus DeVry for the care taken of the animals.
How does Lincoln Park Zoo decide which animals to include in its holdings?
Habitats are designed with footprint, vertical space and complexity of space in mind for each species. Sizes of habitats are determined by best available research, natural history of the species and standards set in place by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (and Manitoba Standards for polar bears). There are many factors that come into play when Lincoln Park Zoo makes the decision to provide space for various species including the zoo’s ability to care for the animals, how the animals will react to the Chicago climate, if the zoo has conservation efforts for that species.
Nov. 16, 1903
‘Big Ben’ escapes to Lake Michigan
A 600-pound male sea lion named Big Ben, who arrived at the zoo from California a year earlier, scaled the 3-foot iron fence around his enclosure and headed 200 yards into Lake Michigan.
Worried a hunter might shoot the animal, DeVry offered a $25 reward for Big Ben’s safe return.
The animal was spotted at many different locations, including 2 miles off South Chicago, where he tried to board the dredge tug Mentor.
His final sighting was April 25, 1904, when his body was discovered 15 miles south of St. Joseph, Mich.
May 19, 1904
Work begins on Bird House
The oldest animal house still operating today at the zoo, this brick building was constructed at a cost of $25,000.
The facility, which features two hundred birds, trees and a large fountain, opened with 26 varieties of parrots and rare birds from all over the world.
“This is the finest bird house ever built,” said head animal keeper DeVry in a May 20, 1904 Chicago Tribune story. “The light and ventilation is perfect.”
March 18, 1908
New home for Duchess
Commissioners approved construction of a cement and iron building to house the elephant, who had spent most of her time at the zoo chained.
“Duchess has been kept at the end of a short chain for thirty years,” said Commissioner F.H. Gansbergen. “Give her a house that she can walk about in.”
November 1908
Cafe Brauer to be built
Plans for the $60,000, crescent-shaped building made of red brick and a green, tile roof were revealed: The structure will be built just north of the south lagoon. Wings connected by curved pergolas will shelter the boathouses and ticket offices. An assembly hall is planned for the second floor of the main building “to be used for dancing and for a summer restaurant.” A downstairs cafe will be for ice skaters during the winter.
Feb. 23, 1909
Dog ‘foster mom’ to three lion cubs
When June, a lioness, refused to feed her three new cubs — named George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Martha Washington due to their Feb. 19 births — head keeper DeVry placed a newspaper ad looking for a replacement mother. His ad was answered by Chicago resident Hartwig Olson, whose half-Gordon setter/half-German shepherd dog, Beauty, was brought in to feed the cubs.
November 1911
Lion House under construction
Work started on what a Nov. 18, 1911, Chicago Tribune story said will be “the handsomest house devoted ecclusively to members of the lion family in the country.”
April 20, 1916
Bear visits new Weeghman Park
Before the Chicago Cubs’ first home game in the new Weeghman Park (now Wrigley Field) at 1060 W. Addison St., “a live and active” black bear cub from the zoo, handled by DeVry, did “tricks in front of the movie camera” at home plate.
Oct. 12, 1920
Princess Spearmint, a hippo, arrives
The 720-pound baby hippopotamus was purchased for the zoo by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. for $3,000, from the Memphis Zoo.
Reporters and photographers waited for a glimpse of the hippo after she arrived by train and was released from her shipping crate, but she immediately descended to the bottom of her 10-foot-deep tank and stayed there.
“I don’t blame the poor animal,” said Alfred E. Parker, zoo director. “It certainly has been a tough trip for both of us. Every time the train stopped the baby would slide to the front of his crate and bump his nose.”
The hippo — which would eventually grow to two tons — would live at the zoo until her death in 1942.
1920
Viking ship on display
The 76-foot, full-scale replica of Gokstad, a Viking ship built around 890 A.D. and now on display in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway, was sailed from Norway to Chicago via the Erie Canal in 1893 for the World’s Columbian Exposition.
The ship was donated to The Field Museum the following year and placed inside a shed next to it.
In 1920, the ship was restored by the Chicago Norske Klub at a cost of $10,000, sailed to Lincoln Park and handed over to the state during a formal presentation.
And, that’s where it stayed for almost 74 years — until the zoo needed to remove Gokstad from its grounds in 1993. That’s when the American Scandinavian Council purchased it for $1. The ship now resides at Good Templar Park in Geneva, Ill.,, though the head and tail of the ship are in storage at the Museum of Science and Industry.
Oct. 9, 1922
Memorial to children’s poet Eugene Field dedicated
The monument, featuring a “dream lady” sprinkling flowers over two sleeping children, was revealed by two of Field’s grandchildren 27 years after his death. Field wrote “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod” and “The Sugar Plum Tree,” both of which are carved into the granite monument.
The memorial was moved to the northeast corner of the Helen V. Branch Primate House.
May 31, 1923
City’s first aquarium opens
The 150,000-square-foot building is designed to house 86 tanks and up to 400,000 gallons of water. “We will experiment with every known kind of fresh water fish,” said Alfred E. Parker, director of the zoo.
When planning for the Shedd Aquarium began a few years later, the building was repurposed as a reptile house in the 1930s.
Following a more than $4 million renovation, the building was converted into the 500-seat Park Place Cafe.
August 1927
Small animal house opens
The $250,000-facility boasted special glass roofing that “permits the life giving ultra-violet rays of the sun to filter through” and a ventilation system.
New residents included eight baboons and a chimpanzee.
Aug. 16, 1930
Bushman arrives
The 40-pound, 2-year-old gorilla from Equatorial Guinea enjoyed a feast of “hot dogs, bananas, watermelon and chicken” upon arriving in Chicago. He was captured by J.L. Buck, an animal hunter from Camden, Mass.
Estimated to have been visited by millions of people during his lifetime, Bushman had a special way of treating photographers who tried to snap his photo, he “frequently pelted them with vegetables and other odds and ends he could find.”
Bushman’s mother was killed in the wild so an animal hunter could get him, according to a Chicago Tribune story from 1930.
How are animals brought to the zoo from the wild today?
At the time of Bushman’s capture, there was not much known about this species, their diet and their rearing.
Since this time, decades of research has been conducted on great apes to better understand their wants and needs, and how they interpret the world.
Much has changed since 1930. Today, gorillas are a part of the Western Lowland Gorilla Species Survival Plan (SSP), and gorillas are born at accredited zoos, creating a resevoir population of these endangered species, negating any collection of gorillas from the wild.
Collection of animals from the wild has not been the norm for zoos for many years now. More than 600 species have SSPs, and AZA accredited zoos work together to cooperatively manage populations. There are instances of rescue/rehabitlation and conservation where animals may be transferred from their native habitat for their survival. More than 98 percent of the animals currently at Lincoln Park Zoo are zoo-born.
1937
Lily Pool opens
The two-acre project was designed by landscape architect and educator Alfred Caldwell, whose mentors included Frank Lloyd Wright and Jens Jensen, and built with Works Progress Administration funds during the Great Depression.
Caldwell cashed in his life insurance policy for $250 and used it for plantings to create his version of the Midwest prairie “a cool, refreshing place of trees and stone and running water,” featuring a wood pavilion and built around a sand dune that marked the edge of Lake Michigan before construction of Lake Shore Drive.
Later it would become a rookery, a bird sanctuary, for the zoo.
The site would fall into disrepair and was closed to the public for a time, but then returned to Caldwell’s original vision following a $2.4 million restoration in 2002.
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April 23, 1940
Baby orangutans travel 15,000 miles to new home
Crowds turned out for a glimpse of two new additions to the zoo — orangutans from Sumatra. The Chicago Tribune donated its plane for the final leg of a 15,000-mile journey to bring the animals to the Midwest.
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1940
Reptile No. 1 arrives
Records indicate that the West African dwarf crocodile nicknamed “R1” was given to the zoo by what appears to have been a private donor. The crocodile was only a foot long when he arrived, which would have made him less than a year old at the time. He was the first reptile recorded in the zoo’s collection and would go on to live 70 years in the zoo’s care before dying in 2010.
His descendants live at the zoo’s Regenstein African Journey.
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July 28, 1942
Elephant loses 1,000 pounds, is euthanized
Gifted to the zoo in 1924 by Chicago Boy Scouts who collected pennies to buy her, 25-year-old Deed-a-Day — the zoo’s second elephant — had been suffering from a suspected stomach ailment. After she was put down, it was discovered she “died from trash fed to it by a doting public.”
After it was announced the zoo has purchased another elephant from Brookfield Zoo, Chicago Tribune editorial cartoonist John McCutcheon publicized the previous elephant’s demise with a July 7, 1943, front-page cartoon — under the headline “The scum of creation” — ridiculing those who fed broken glass, bottle caps, rubber balls and more to Deed-a-Day.
How does the Lincoln Park Zoo design habitats to keep the animals safe?
As a veterinarian, Dr. Lester Fisher made great strides in reshaping the zoo to focus more on animal care. This included starting to understand not only how to care for indivdiuals but how to promote the best possible welfare for them as well.
Over the years, thanks to accredited zoos and aquariums, channels like Animal Planet and National Geographic, the general public has been educated on the negative impacts humans can have on wildlife and ecosystems — including those in our care.
Luckily, we rarely see instances of the public attempting to feed the animals in our care, which is likely due to a societal shift in our knowledge and respect for animals. Lincoln Park Zoo has a full-time nutritionist on staff who manages and carefully crafts specific and appropriate diets for all of the animals at the zoo.
When building habitats, many factors come into play, including the animals’ safety. Many habitats have thick glass separating the public from the animals or large, open moats. These types of elements serve mulitple purposes including allowing guests to get up close to the animals while protecting animals and guests alike.
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Nov. 1, 1942
Women hired for key roles
With men serving in the armed forces during World War II, the zoo offered “the same pay and the same privileges as men” for women looking for jobs for up to 100 jobs offered through the park district.
Women — who requested work as truck drivers, garage attendants, tractor operators and laborers — applied for these positions through the Chicago Park District, many listing “long experience in the care of dogs, cats, and birds” as qualifications.
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Dec. 10, 1944
R. Marlin Perkins named zoo’s next director
It was announced that the Missouri-born herpetologist — reptile expert — would take over when Director Floyd S. Young was to retire on Jan. 7, 1945, his 65th birthday.
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1945
First “Zoo Parade” broadcast
It was zoo Director R. Marlin Perkins who recognized the promise of the then-infant medium television — exclaiming in an annual report “a tremendous” future use of it by zoos to teach children and adults — and filmed his first episode intended to bust old myths about animals.
His pioneering TV program “Zoo Parade” would air on local station WNBQ starting in 1949, then become an NBC network show in 1950. Broadcasting live from the zoo, the show would run until canceled in 1957.
After leaving Lincoln Park Zoo in 1962, Perkins went on to narrate “Wild Kingdom.”
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Oct. 1, 1947
Potential mate for Bushman
Just three months after he appeared on the cover of Time magazine, the Chicago Park District gave zoo Director R. Marlin Perkins $3,000 to travel to Africa for this purpose. He returned with four, young gorillas — Lotus, Irvin Young, Mongo and Mininga — but no love interest for the zoo’s star gorilla, who was gifted a new, outdoor cage the same year.
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Oct. 1, 1950
Bushman escapes
The largest and oldest gorilla in captivity at the time, Bushman got out of his cage and roamed the monkey house for almost three hours, having never previously escaped or injured anyone in his 20 years at the zoo.
While on the loose, Bushman bit his longtime keeper, Eddie Robinson, who required four stitches for the wound.
It’s only when a small garter snake was pushed into Bushman’s hiding place that the gorilla finally retreated to his cage.
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Jan. 1, 1951
Bushman dies
The death of the zoo’s 22-year-old star attraction was front-page news. An autopsy revealed the gorilla — who was once called “the most outstanding animal of any zoo in the world and the most valuable” by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums — died of myocarditis, or inflamation of the heart muscle.
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April 1, 1951
Perkins is bitten by rattlesnake
While prepping for a “Zoo Parade” episode, Perkins was bitten on the middle finger of his left hand by a timber rattlesnake.
He was taken to what is now Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment of the bite — the third snake bite he received in a lifetime of handling snakes.
Several weeks later, he returned to the show saying, “Snakes are still my hobby and they still fascinate me.”
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1952
First children’s zoo opens
Open seasonally until a year-round version — the first of its kind in the U.S. — arrived on May 19, 1959.
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June 28, 1957
Traveling Zoo begins
The original, specialized trailer was 33 feet long, 8 feet wide and 12 feet high.
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May 14, 1959
Lincoln Park Zoological Society forms
The zoo had been offered a variety of animals — pairs of giraffes, rhinoceros, hippopotamuses and tapirs — but despite having a lot of land, there were no facilities to house them.
A meeting of prominent business and industrial leaders at the city’s Standard Club led to the establishment of the Lincoln Park Zoological Society and its first board of directors. All committed to raise money to care for animals, purchase equipment, solicit more members and help the zoo become “the greatest in the world.”
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Dec. 13, 1960
Perkins debunks abominable snowman
After returning from an expedition to the Himalayas financed by World Book Encyclopedia under the leadership of Sir Edmund Hillary, Perkins said the yeti is “only a legend.”
Perkins had hoped, if the abominable snowman did exist, to bring back a specimen for the zoo.
A Sherpa guide claimed to have the scalp from a female yeti his ancestors got drunk then killed, but upon examination by scientists from The Field Museum thought it might be man-made. “It proved to be from the hide of an antelope,” Perkins said.
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December 1961
Kids zoo membership: $10
For the first time, the Lincoln Park Zoological Society offered membership in the organization to children — calling it a great Christmas gift idea for parents.
Membership included “Friend of Lincoln Park Zoo” pins, a subscription to the zoo’s bi-monthly magazine, “Hoo Zoo,” a personalized card and members-only tours.
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Oct. 1, 1962
Dr. Lester Fisher becomes zoo’s director
After 18 years of leading the Lincoln Park Zoo, Perkins left to head the St. Louis Zoo. He was offered a five-year contract with an annual salary of $22,500. His salary at Lincoln Park had been $11,500 a year.
Fisher, who arrived in Lincoln Park as a consulting veterinarian in 1947, had been assistant director. His starting salary: $10,500 a year. Fisher would stay at the zoo for 45 years, retiring in 1992.
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Nov. 19, 1964
Farm-in-the-Zoo opens
The zoo finally had an area designed to show “city folks where most of their food comes from,” as suggested three years prior by the Lincoln Park Zoological Society.
“We had in mind that segment of the population which in its visits to the zoo becomes acquainted with animals from Africa and other far away places, but has little knowledge of the animals in rural areas,” said Frederick M. Gillies, society president.
It was the first major zoo project made possible by the society, featuring two red barns on Chicago Park District land just south of the zoo entrance.
The main barn featured an Angus steer, a ewe and her ewe lamb, a sow with 12 piglets and an incubator. The dairy barn included a herd of six Holstein cows, a heifer, a bull and two newborn calves.
The attraction became so popular that horse and beef cattle barns were added in 1965, with others planned.
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July 22, 1970
First western lowland gorilla born at the zoo
Born to mom Mumbi and dad Kisoro, Kumba was the first gorilla born at the zoo in its 102-year history. “Mumbi had no help at all with the delivery. She was her own midwife,” assistant zoo director Saul Kitchener said.
Can you please describe how the zoo prepares for a major birth? And, how the zoo decides when to pair animals in hopes of producing offspring?
In short, Lincoln Park Zoo works with the Species Survival Plan (SSP), who create breeding and transfer plans (more than 600 SSPs across AZA accredited institutions), which are informed by science from the Population Management Center (housed at Lincoln Park Zoo).
These plans take many factors into consideration (genetics, group dynamics, habitat availability, natural history and individual needs) to determine a recommendation for which animal should be paired with whom.
From an animal care and management standpoint, preparing for a birth is a huge undertaking even for the smallest of creatures. The animal care team monitors and observes behavior daily to note any changes, works with the zoo’s full-time nutritionist to make any necessary dietary changes, collaborates with our Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology lab to monitor pregnancy hormones, works hand-in-hand with our veterinary team to ensure the health of the dam (and infant, once born).
Birth management plans are also created with animal care and veterinary staff for different possible situations to make sure equipment and supplies are available for multiple different eventualities. Careful planning and monitoring takes place, sometimes over the course of months or years, for every birth of an animal in our care.
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1970s-1990s
‘Tea party’ with chimpanzees
For decades, the Children’s Zoo hosted a daily afternoon “tea party,” where children and parents could observe the animals sitting at a table, and eating and drinking using human tableware.
It seems animals used to be encouraged to act like humans, and there was a lot of interaction between animals and visitors to the zoo. How has this changed?
During this time, the idea was the closer physically a person got to an animal, the deeper the connection would be and the more likely individuals would care for and conserve species.
Research from the zoo’s Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, however, has shown that the opposite is true. When primates are shown with humans, dress as humans or in human settings, the public are less likely to believe that the animals are endangered and in need of protecting.
Additionally, these types of hands-on encounters increase the desire for these primates to become pets.
Lincoln Park Zoo ended all public encounters with primates, taking primates out of their habitats, dressing them up and such in the early 1990s.
Over the last few decades, the zoo has been a strong advocate for primates and their welfare including partnering with the national chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimp Haven, to ensure the lifetime care of chimps retired from labratory settings, assisting in the remedying of the chimpanzee split listing naming all chimpanzees as endangered (previously privately owned and wild chimpanzees were listed separately), the creation of ChimpCARE to better understand the conditions in which chimpanzees were living in the United States (private ownership, labs, entertainment, etc.) and, in doing so, has facilitated several transfers of chimpanzees into appropriate living situations at accredited zoos and sanctuaries.
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Sept. 16, 1973
Gorilla, snow leopard babies taken from nursery
Noticing a door to the Lion House was open, a patrolman searched the building and then discovered the tiny, rare animals were missing. Three people — including two juveniles — were arrested for taking them, saying they thought they were cute.
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1975
Certified as one of the nation’s first accredited zoos
This new form of certification from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums — a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancement in the areas of conservation, education, science and recreation — meant the zoo had met standards for the care of its 2,500 residents. The zoo has remained continuously accredited since first receiving this designation.
Jan. 16, 1976
Polar bear walks out on mate
Skazka, a 15-year-old female polar bear brought to the zoo from Russia in 1961, climbed a buildup of ice along a rocky wall of the enclosure she shared with Mike, a 21-year-old Alaskan polar bear, and stood above the bear compound. She’s spotted by keepers 15 minutes before the zoo opened, and about two dozen police officers responded to the scene as a precaution. The polar bear was tranquilized with a dart gun and carried back to her lair on a canvas stretcher by keepers and some of the police officers.
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March 1976
Zoo’s first hospital opens
After years of bringing in doctors familiar with people to evalute the animals, the zoo’s first hospital — named for primary donors Joan and Ray Kroc — opened with a dedicated veterinary staff.
Its full-time veterinarian, Dr. Erich Maschgan, gave up his private practice to run the $1 million facility.
“For so many years we worked out of our doctor’s bag with whatever makeshift arrangements we could manage — usually it was in a back room of one of the animal houses or the zoo nursery,” said zoo Director Dr. Lester Fisher.
Could you describe some of the innovations the zoo’s hospital has experienced since the 1970s? What’s the zoo’s hospital staff like today?
Today, the zoo has two full-time veterinarians, one full-time veterinary resident and three full-time veterinary technicians.
The hospital has been updated and renovated several times and is equipped with digital radiograph equipment, a surgical suite, quarantine housing, mammography and ultrasound equipment. Staff endocrinologists with the Davee Center for Endocrinology and Epidemiology also conduct stress hormone analysis.
To this day, when appropriate, we consult with human doctors/specialists (cardiologists and dermatologists, for example) for specific issues or procedures.
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June 7, 1976
Great Ape House dedicated
The $3.2 million Great Ape House included six indoor habitats and a nursery plus an outdoor habitat. The biggest improvement: no bars between animals and people. Just large, glass windows.
And, it “rained” every day at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. to replicate the apes’ natural environment and keep foliage in the habitat watered.
The moving of animals from the old Primate House to the new Great Ape House was recorded by filmmaker Dugan Rosalini, who compiled the footage into the one-hour documentary “Otto: Zoo Gorilla”.
This project and the zoo’s hospital were part of the zoo’s $20 million building project, which would be completed in 1982.
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Nov. 20, 1976
Miki-luk born, rejected by mother
Bea, a polar bear, refused to feed her second offspring, so zoo officials decided Miki-luk would be kept by staffers in the Bird House — including feedings by then 25-year-old curator of birds and now zoo director, Kevin J. Bell — and, later, the nursery inside the Children’s Zoo.
When an animal is born at the Lincoln Park Zoo today, is it kept with its mother? How does the zoo decide to keep a baby animal with its mother? Or, to raise it away from its mother?
Research has shown that animals experience the best weflare with the least long-term issues when they are parent-reared. Due to this research, the zoo gradually ended the routine removal of newborn animals for hand-rearing. The zoo formally closed its nursery in 2003 (though it was not used for hand-rearing for some years before that) with the demolition of the old Children’s Zoo.
In every possible instance, Lincoln Park Zoo enables the animals to rear their own offspring. In the case of parental neglect/abandonment or a health issue with or risk to the infant, animal care staff will intervene and hand-rear individuals.
In the rare occurence animals are hand-reared, the plans also include a strategy to reintroduce the animal back with its family or conspecifics (if a social species) as soon as possible.
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April 5, 1977
$17 million expansion announced
The capital fund program aimed to build houses and outdoor habitats for large, hoofed animals including buffalo, deer, antelope, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, giraffes and elephants.
The project also included an education and administrative center that was set to break ground that summer.
December 1978
Waterfowl Lagoon and Flamingo Dome open
Twenty-five Chilean flamingos were kept at a comfortable 65 degrees in their new home — a geodesic dome just south of the Lion House.
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1979
Crown-Field Education Center opens
The Crown and Field families made an undisclosed joint gift to help fund the construction of the education center, which includes administrative offices, a 200-seat orientation center, a library, lounge and a unique gift shop surrounded by an indoor-outdoor habitat for Japanese snow monkeys, or macaques.
1981
Species Survival Plan program launches
Bali mynahs, which the zoo still conserves with partners in Indonesia, are among the first species protected. The birds’ flowing white plumage was favored by poachers.
How has the Species Survival Plan program expanded since 1981?
To this day, Lincoln Park Zoo is still working to help save the Bali mynah. The zoo plays an active role in the Bali Mynah Species Survival Plan and has worked with government agencies overseas to work on protections and reintroductions for the species.
Sept. 22, 1981
Blum-Kovler Penguin Seabird House opens
The zoo’s curator of birds, Kevin Bell — a puffin specialist who grew up on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo in New York — helped gather the frolicsome creatures from rock nooks in Iceland for the new exhibit, which also included Rockhopper penguins from a sub-Antarctic island.
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July 27, 1982
450-pound gorilla Otto escapes
About 9:30 a.m., Otto — star of 1976 documentary “Otto: Zoo Gorilla” and named for disgraced former Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner — apparently scaled an 11-foot wall topped with electrical wires in an outdoor enclosure and left the Ape House. He then lumbered north to the Primate House and climbed up a ramp to the Administration Building.
He was sitting on the building’s roof just above zoo Director Dr. Lester Fisher’s office when veterinarian Tom Meehan hit Otto with tranquilizer darts. It took up to 10 zoo employees to place the gorilla on a stretcher and return him to the Ape House.
From the zoo’s founding, it seems animal escapes have become more rare as planning and design of animal habitats have evolved. How does the zoo prepare in case an animal gets loose from its habitat?
Safety of guests, staff and animals is a top priority at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Today, habitats can take years to design and years to build. The AZA and USDA standards require safety mechanisms to minimize risk and ensure safety of guests, staff and the animals themselves.
Habitats can also be “tested” by humans in various capacities to ensure that the habitats are safe ahead of transfering animals. Accredited zoos are also required to regularly conduct safety drills in the instance of an animal leaving their habitat.
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1982
New facilities open: Antelope & Zebra Area, Regenstein Large Mammal House and the Robert R. McCormick Bear and Wolf Habitat
Late Chicago industrialist Joseph Regenstein’s family’s first contribution to the zoo — $1.8 million — was the largest donation yet made to the zoo.
The decision to name the bear and wolf habitat in memory of former Chicago Tribune editor and publisher Col. Robert R. McCormick was made to recognize his concern for animal welfare and his fondness for bears.
Oct. 11, 1982
Chimp stolen
Two men — assisted by an animal keeper on leave from the zoo — took Eve the 3-year-old chimpanzee from her cage with the intention of selling her for money to buy narcotics.
She was next spotted in a car with them on South Lake Shore Drive near the Stevenson Expressway.
Tips came in saying Eve could be at a railroad yard near East Randolph Street, which prompted animal keepers and police armed with bananas to search there for her. But, no luck.
Another tip led to a second-floor apartment on Archer Avenue, which housed one of the suspects. When police arrived, they found Eve and also discovered a mess that covered portions of the ceiling and the floor. Fed only bananas by her captors, Eve experienced gastrointestinal distress. That coupled with her lack of toilet training made for quite a mess.
She was returned to the zoo after four days on the run and later shared a celebration feast of apples and cake with her cagemate, Sibu.
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Nov. 8, 1982
Prince Philip visits
In town to discuss animal conservation and solicit donations for the World Wildlife Fund, of which he was president, Prince Philip visited both Chicago-area zoos. At Lincoln Park Zoo, he was given a tour of the new Great Ape House then treated to a lunch of veal piccata and artichoke bottoms with carrot souffle at the Large Mammal Habitat, surrounded by elephants and giraffes.
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Jan. 29, 1985
$10 million ‘Landmark Campaign’ announced
Work for the three-year renovation project involving four of the zoo’s most popular and oldest buildings — the Children’s Zoo, Primate House, Lion House and Bird House — was scheduled to begin that fall.
Zoo Director Lester Fisher pointed out that when the structures were originally built, the purpose was only to show off wild animals in cages. Now, animals were given a natural habitat in which to live and breed. The new habitats would eliminate barred cages in favor of enlarged, screened-in living spaces for the animals.
Specific zoo buildings or areas would be named in honor of six donors who contributed a total of $5.3 million.
The project began with renovation of the Children`s Zoo (renamed after a donation from Pritzker family), built in 1957.
The three other zoo buildings to be renovated as part of the campaign were the Primate House, (renamed for disappeared candy company heiress Helen V. Brach), built in 1923; the Lion House (renamed after donation from Blum-Kovler Foundation), built in 1912; and the Bird House (renamed after a donation from the Robert R. McCormick Charitable Trust), built in 1900. In addition, a Bird of Prey Habitats (to be named after a donation from the Regenstein Foundation) would be built just south of the Bird House.
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March 19, 1985
Sinbad dies
A Lincoln Park zoo resident for 37 of his 38 years, the lowland gorilla toppled over and died in his cage.
“It like losing a friend,” zoo Director Lester Fisher said. “I was an assistant veterinarian when he came here, and I’ve know him since he was a baby. There are no services planned, or anything like that. At a zoo, we treat a death as a personal loss, and we want to remember the animals as they were.”
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May 23, 1988
Pritzker Children’s Zoo reopens
After an almost two-year, $3.4-million renovation, the updated area for children reopened. Features included a new demonstration area for keepers and volunteers to present informal talks about animals; two new outdoor demonstration areas; and a hands-on area where children could meet African pygmy goats. Animals native to the Midwest, including river otters, bobcats and a prairie dog town, were nearby.
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June 1988
Landmark Cafe opens
The copper-roofed serving stand with stained glass windows offered food prepared by Levy Restaurants, including a Cobb salad, chicken strips and an Italian beef sandwich.
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August 1988
Farm-in-the-Zoo reopens following updates
After $1 million in renovations, the popular farm area included a vegetable garden planted by the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service and demonstrations including horse grooming, goat milking and ice-cream making.
“When we milk the cows, children realize milk doesn’t just come from the grocery store,” said farm curator LuAnne Metzger.
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Sept. 14, 1988
Koalas arrive
After a five-year effort to get koalas to Lincoln Park and to secure enough eucalyptus for them to eat, almost 9-year-old Point Blank and 5-year-old Nutsy arrived from the Toronto Zoo and stayed at the Crown Field Center. But the koalas’ lack of antics left some visitors disappointed.
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1989
Conservation & Science Department established
The department’s mission is to improve animal management and wildlife conservation. Projects include great ape conservation, protecting wild ecosystems, planning sustainable populations, guiding reintroduction programs to bring species back from the brink, enhancing animal heath and monitoring animal behavior for better understanding.
How has this department helped shape the zoo’s current mission?
Today, the zoo has 40 full-time conservation and science staff working to understand and save species, and help mitigate human-wildlife conflict.
The zoo’s vision, created in 2017, is “inspire communitiies to create environments where wlidlife can thrive in our urbanizing world,” which was largely informed by the zoo’s conservation and science programs.
Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the most published accredited zoos in the United States and has projects varying in location from our own backyard to Africa.
June 16, 1989
Regenstein Birds of Prey Exhibit opens
An entire community of vultures — including rare white-headed vultures, hooded vultures and a pair of Ruppell’s griffon vultures — took up residence in the largest of the exhibit’s free-flight enclosures.
“It was all designed to encourage these big birds to fly,” said Kevin Bell, curator of birds. “It’s important for the birds to get exercise, and besides, the public loves to see them in action.”
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December 1989
After 50 years of neglect, Cafe Brauer and the Great Hall renovated, reopened
The $4.2-million project removed decades of dirt and grime — the building had been vacant from 1940 to 1990 — and returned the Great Hall to its turn-of-the-century grandeur.
Yet, it wwasn’t to be too fancy, according to Larry Levy, whose Levy Organization will provide food service for Cafe Brauer. “This won’t be for yuppies. This will be for the people who come to the park.”
Feb. 15, 1990
‘Space chicken’ donated to zoo
Out of 67 billion chicken eggs laid in the United States the year before, 32 were sent into orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery. One of the surviving embryonic space travelers — now a 7-pound, 10-month-old white hen named “Discovery” — was donated by Purdue University to the poultry barn at Lincoln Park’s Farm-in-the-Zoo.
April 21, 1990
Kovler Lion House reopens
Instead of 13 exhibits clad in bars, the sweeping renovation featured five high-tech, more spacious exhibits with denning facilities — out of the public’s view — to provide more comfort for the big cats, and high tension stainless steel wires to separate people from the felines. Each exhibit was designed to replicate its inhabitant’s natural environment, complete with rocky cliffs and streams.
And, for the first time since 1972, cheetahs — an endangered species — were displayed.
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Oct. 11, 1990
First elephant born in Illinois
When the zoo looked for a potential mate for its 15-year-old Asian elephant, Bozie, there were two suitable candidates — one in Canada and the other in Springfield, Mo. The zoo shipped Bozie to Springfield and returned her to Chicago during her two-year gestation period.
Her baby, Shanti, became the 15th elephant birth in the U.S. at the time. Shanti now lives at the Houston Zoo.
Neither Chicago-area zoo currently has elephants.
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May 9, 1991
McCormick Bird House reopens
After a two-year, $2.8 million renovation, visitors were often able to be within an arm’s length of some of the world’s rarest tropical birds. Eleven habitats — including forest, grassland and desert — were landscaped with painstaking approximations of the birds’ native lands. Signs describing the birds and their environments gave visitors a primer on the difference between toucans and hornbills to ecological discussions and advice.
A pair of endangered bali mynahs — with flowing white plumage desired by poachers — were already nesting in their new habitat.
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Jan. 7, 1992
Dr. Lester Fisher announces his retirement
Following 45 years of service to Lincoln Park Zoo — which included his strengthening of the zoo’s gorilla program, pursuing an aggressive breeding program with other zoos, leading campaigns to renovate much of the zoo’s existing structures to offer animals more natural habitats and helping the zoo emerge as a leader in the animal conservation movement — Fisher announced he would retire as zoo director on April 1, 1992.
His successor was David Hales, a longtime government official from Michigan with no zoo experience. At a news conference, Hales says the zoo’s chief mission will be instructing its visitors about endangered species and ways to protect them. (Hales left the position six months later due to “governance challenges and severe differences of opinion.”)
Fisher’s conservation efforts at the zoo included paring down exhibits to give animals more space and emphasizing preservation of endangered species. The zoo housed 2,159 animals in 1961 when he arrived as director. In 1991, that population was down to 1,659. “I think this little old zoo here made peace with its size during my time, because it had to,” Fisher said. “We’re committed to species with which we can do long-term breeding, give adequate space and focus on the endangered.”
Sept. 18, 1992
Primate House reopens
New residents representing 10 species — including white-handed gibbons, Guereza black and colobus monkeys and mandrills — were housed in the 22,930-square-foot facility, which cost $3.6 million to renovate over three years. There were eight habitats filled with dense vegetation and plenty of areas for the animals to play. Since most of the inhabitants were endangered or threatened species, reproduction was to be important to the facility.
Just don’t call all the inhabitants monkeys — gibbons are members of the ape family and lemurs are a type of primate, hence the building was called the Primate House.
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June 9, 1993
Kevin J. Bell named director
Seventeen years after he arrived at the zoo as its curator of birds — the youngest curator ever hired by Lincoln Park Zoo — Bell was named director. At just 40 years old, he inherited a 125-year-old zoo in the midst of an extensive rebuilding effort. He remains in the same role today and took on the positions of president and CEO when the zoo privatized two years later.
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Jan. 1, 1995
Zoo privatizes
Following months of negotiations, the Chicago Park District agreed to turn over management of the zoo to the Lincoln Park Zoological Society. Under the terms of the 30-year agreement, the park district will provide an annual $5.5 million subsidy to the society, and continue to provide property and liability insurance. The agreement also allows the society to keep concession and parking revenues. The zoo remains free to visitors.
How has privatization changed the zoo? Can you explain how your mission has changed over time? What’s your focus now and how does that differ from previous decades?
Privatization enabled the zoo to hone-in on areas of focus including animal care, welfare, conservation, science and education, but the mission of the zoo has not changed since 1995: “Lincoln Park Zoo is dedicated to connecting people with nature by providing a free, family-oriented wildlife experience in the heart of Chicago by advancing the highest quality of animal care, education, science and conservation.”
The zoo, however, has evolved greatly under this mission and has expanded its conservation, science, animal care and welfare, education and community management efforts. In 2017, the zoo also created its first vision: “inspire communities to create environments where wildlife can thrive in our urbanizing world.” This is largely focused on the mitigation of human-wildlife conflict and being good stewards to wildlife and ecosystems.
Oct. 17, 1995
Gateway Pavilion opens
The new, 1,500-square-foot visitor’s center at the zoo’s east gate is a brick structure decorated with two swan-shaped sculptures, commemorating the zoo’s first residents’ arrival in 1868. It’s the first structure built for people at the zoo — not animals. The building — the first completed as part of the zoo’s five-year, $50 million Heart of the Zoo campaign — also houses a first-aid station, gift shop and stroller rental facilities.
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Nov. 24, 1995
First ZooLights
After nine months of planning and $100,000 to stage, the zoo’s holiday-themed lights festival offers visitors — who paid $6 for adults and $4 for children — illuminated replicas of animals that make the zoo their home, animated dinosaur light displays, ice sculptures and children’s activities.
“Friends” co-star and Northwestern University alumnus David Schwimmer read children a story near the sea lion pool as part of the Caroling to the Animals program.
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May 23, 1997
Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House opens
The first animal facility built in the zoo since the Regenstein Birds of Prey Exhibit in 1989, this 32,000-square-foot building represented a new approach to animal displays that placed less emphasis on the individual animal and more focus on entire habitats. Inside, 100 animals of 50 species were housed — marking the first time the zoo mixed different species in the same habitats.
The zoo’s lifelike displays were so foreign to many of the animals, who were bred in captivity, that their introduction to their new environments was ambivalent. “It’s puzzling to them,” says Nancy DeFiesta of the animals’ adjustment. “They’ve never been in something that looks like their real home.”
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May 1997
Lagoon renovated
After four years at Sea World in Florida, Caribbean flamingos were back outside at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Now, they were separated via a wire fence from swans swimming in the Hope B. McCormick Swan Pond.
The $1 million renovation of the zoo’s waterfowl lagoon removed overgrown plants and trees, and replaced them with a mix of prairie plants and ornamentals surrounded by a fieldstone border and a romantic Victorian bridge.
May 1998
Park Place Cafe opens as year-round cafeteria
This restaurant might be the only in the world that formerly housed copperhead snakes, geckos, alligators and toads. Before that, the quarters belonged to barracuda, seahorses, manta rays and sharks. Built in 1922, the building that houses the new Park Place Cafe was Chicago’s first aquarium. Then, in 1937, it transformed into the Reptile House. The reptiles moved to a new facility in 1997 making way for the eatery with inside and outside seating.
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July 1998
C.H. ‘Doc’ Searle M.D. Animal Hospital completed
The facility’s renovation — funded by a gift from the Searle family and the Buehler Family Foundation — cost $3.9 million.
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Oct. 4, 2001
Rare gibbon born
Just six months after writing a scholarly paper on “how we failed to reproduce gibbons,” Kristen Lukas, Lincoln Park Zoo’s primate curator, introduced Kien Nahn, the baby born to Burma, a white-cheeked gibbon, of which only 32 pairs existed at the time in North American zoos.
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June 4, 2002
DeBrazza’s monkey born
Mzohari — whose name in Swahili means “always late” — was the first of his kind born at the zoo in 15 years. Like many primates, DeBrazza’s monkeys are threatened in the wild by deforestation and human hunters. At the time, 75 animals were housed in North American zoos.
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Aug. 16, 2002
One of two stolen snakes returned
One of two reptiles stolen from the Lincoln Park Zoo apparently snaked its way to a South Side “L” stop, a boy’s bedroom and a beauty shop on the West Side after both were taken from their exhibit inside the children’s zoo almost a week prior. Onlookers recognized Sally, a boa constrictor, when a teenager brought her in to show his girlfriend, who was getting her hair done. The boy told police he had bought it from some guys at an “L” stop and kept it under his bed until his mother objected.
Police believe three boys ages 10 to 14 slipped away with Sally and another snake, which was not recovered, on Aug. 8, 2002.
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Sept. 14, 2002
Farm-in-the-Zoo reopens following updates
The almost 40-year-old Farm-in-the-Zoo still teaches urban dwellers about where their food comes from, but following the yearlong, $6 million renovation, that information was now told using newer technology. Instead of hand-milking goats, computer touch-screens teach about environmentally conscious farming. A walk-in weather simulator shows the impacts of drought and tornadoes on crops. Children could climb and sit in a giant tractor equipped with a GPS tracking system.
Updates also included enlarged dairy and main barns, new quarters for horses and chickens, a Midwestern farmhouse and small fields for crops and cow pastures.
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May 22, 2003
Regenstein African Journey opens
Constructed in the space formerly known as the large mammal habitat, this place gives visitors the feel they are immersed in the animals’ habitats — gone are railings and extra spacing that separated human from beast. By stepping into a curved glass lit by a dim, red light, zoogoers can experience nocturnal behavior of Madagascar hissing cockroaches and hear their hiss from speakers nearby. Howie, a pygmy hippo, can be seen through a sheet of glass as he bounds underwater in slow motion. And, the outdoor exhibits allow African wild dogs to chase each other in the absence of concrete pens.
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July 1, 2004
Regenstein Center for African Apes opens
The bright and airy $25.7 million ape house welcomed back the zoo’s gorillas and chimpanzees who were sent to live at other facilities for two years while their new home was constructed. And, the new building included lots of surprises: animal-controlled bells and whistles, motion detectors that spritz them with water and buttons in fake termite mounds that send snacks sailing across the rooms. Outside, there are huge yards for all the animals to play with strategically placed artificial trees and stumps.
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Sept. 9, 2004
Keeper injured in lion enclosure
A longtime animal keeper was grabbed and mauled by two lions in the bottom of the 12-foot-deep moat within their outdoor enclosure before fellow keepers could come to her aid — using the spray from fire extinguishers to force the lions indoors. The keeper, who was seriously injured, had gone into the cats’ yard to give them fresh water, apparently forgetting that she had already let the animals out, federal safety records show.
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June 30, 2005
Children’s Zoo reopens
Replacing what Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin called a piece of “George Jetson modernism” with a folded, white roof that seemed to float above its glassy, six-sided base, the new children’s zoo building is a modernist structure that is quietly part of the landscape.
Here’s where children can get close to North American animals — red wolves, black bears, beavers and otters — in recreations of their streamside habitats.
Inside, there’s a 20-foot-tall climbing feature made of steel poles and laminated wood platforms. Gone is the nursery — since keepers believe it’s better for baby animals to be with their families — in favor of hands-on experiences with turtles, snakes and insects.
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2006
Wild chimpanzees and gorillas studied
The zoo teams with the Goualougo Triangle Ape project in the Republic of Congo.
How does this partnership fit into the zoo’s mission?
Lincoln Park Zoo has had researchers on the ground in the Goualougo Triangle in the Republic of Congo for more than a decade. This is the only region in the world where chimpanzees and western lowland gorillas share habitat, making it a unique place to conduct research and a critical ecosystem to protect.
There are many studies happening concurrently that help understand chimpanzees and gorillas, and inform protections for the speices. For the last several years, the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project (GTAP)/Lincoln Park Zoo have been working with the logging companies to best understand their impact on the ape populations and help mitigate displacing these endangered species.
2008
Urban Wildlife Institute founded
How to deal with wildlife relocation, rehabilitation, disease and conflicts between urban development and the natural ecosystem? That’s why the Urban Wildlife Institute was founded and partners with local nature and conservation organizations to conduct studies into ecosystem health and human-wildlife interaction.
The group sets up motion-activated cameras to record and study the movements of skunks, raccoons, opossum, deer, fox and coyotes. Through the group’s animal studies, they hope to use their understanding of animal behavior and, eventually, use it to change the way cities are built.
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June 24, 2010
South Pond becomes Nature Boardwalk
The paddle boats are gone, but an ecosystem now thrives in their place. The $12 million Nature Boardwalk, a 14-acre pond-and-prairie habitat, includes a half-mile stretch of recycled-material boardwalk, explanatory signs, a turtle-shell inspired structure designed by Studio Gang and many picturesque spots to stop and look for painted turtles, fish and ducks in the water.
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Aug. 26, 2013
Critically endangered black rhino born
The 200-pound eastern black rhinoceros calf, named King, becomes the first of his kind born at the zoo since 1989.
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Jan. 21, 2015
Regenstein Macaque Forest opens
The zoo’s first new exhibit building since 2005, the 7,300-square-foot display — just to the north of the West Gate — was the centerpiece of a $15 million project that included the opening of the Lionel Train Adventure for kids and enhancements to Eadie Levy’s Landmark Cafe.
The exhibit includes eight “snow monkeys” from a Japanese primate research facility, an elaborate hillside enclosure with heated rocks and a stream on the site formerly occupied by the zoo’s Penguin-Seabird House.
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Oct. 6, 2016
Robert and Mayari Pritzker Penguin Cove opens
Part of a $22-million project that also included a new polar bear habitat, penguins return to the zoo after a five-year absence with the new habitat now hosting South African penguins, a critically endangered species.
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Nov. 17, 2016
After two-year absence, polar bears return
The Walter Family Arctic Tundra opened with its first resident polar bear, 6-year-old male Siku.
His 8,400-square-foot realm is adorned with faux rocks, turf and gravel areas, and even an industrial-strength shaved ice machine.
There is a waterfall and a stream, and then at one of the four viewing areas, there is the new pool, which comes right up to the clear wall. Siku’s “enrichment tools” are big inflatable exercise balls that let the animal mimic the capture of seals.
He was joined by female polar bear Talini in March 2018.
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Sources: Lincoln Park Zoo; Tribune reporting and archives; “The Ark in the Park: The story of Lincoln Park Zoo” by Mark Rosenthal, Carol Tauber and Edward Uhlir; “Dr. Fisher’s Life on the Ark” by Lester E. Fisher; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.
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