It isn't about sex, or fart jokes, or making light of human suffering, but rather the anthropomorphization of chimps. more ›

365,593 visitors basked in the glow of over 2 million lights and new attractions such as a shimmering wall of "water." The unseasonably warm December also had to have played a factor. more ›

Lincoln Park Zoo's annual Zoo Lights exhibit is as much a part of the holidays in Chicago as mulled wine in Daley Plaza, the Music Box Christmas sing-a-long and last-minute gift shopping. more ›

She was the first gorilla born at Lincoln Park Zoo in six years. more ›

The zoo's Regenstein Center for African Apes has been closed to the public since Bana gave birth to give the 15-year-old gorilla and her 22-year-old silverback sire, Kwan, time to adjust to being parents, and so Zoo officials can monitor Bana and the newborn. more ›

There may be at least 1,000 coyotes in Chicago. That’s within typical population density for the beasts in the wild. But it’s between 1,000 and 2,000 more than most urbanites might expect. more ›

National Geographic is building a human-sized hummingbird nest at Lincoln Park Zoo this weekend for an episode of its Live Like an Animal television series this weekend. more ›

Endemic to the temperate forests of the Himalayas, and found also in the foothills of western Nepal and into China, the Red Panda is considered a living fossil. The only species of the genus Ailurus, the red panda belongs to the family Ailuridae, of which all other genus are extinct. Omnivorous and nocturnal, the red panda (unlike the giant panda, to which it is actually not related) breeds well in captivity; in 2009 Lincoln Park Zoo asked the public for donations for a nesting box to help encorage reproduction among their captive red panda population. The Windy Citizen even set up a "Lincoln Park Red Panda Sex Fund" on ChipIn. more ›

On one hand, you know times are tough when burglars are willing to brave man-eating tigers to pull off a low-end caper... On the other hand, WTF do you have to do to protect your stuff if you already have man-eating guard tigers and still suffer break-ins? That is the quandary for Lincoln Park Zoo officials after some seriously brave/stupid thieves broke into the Kovler Lion House early Saturday morning and assumedly (since nobody reported blood or chewed up limbs at the scene of the crime) lived to tell the tale. more ›

Growing up, Mom used to take us for paddle boat rides on the Lincoln Park Zoo's South Pond. Back then (the late 70's - early 80's) they weren't the fancy swan paddle boats, but it was still cool to get out on the lagoon and float around. The paddle boats haven't been in the water since 2008, when new vegetation was planted in the pond as part of a restoration project. The swan boats won't be back this year, either. Even though the pond reopened last year, the vegetation planted still needs a few years for the roots to take hold. more ›

Anybody under the age of 50 knows that a Mold-A-Rama isn't a spore museum, but rather blow-molding machines that have fascinated area children since they were first introduced in the 1960s. Today's Sun-Times takes an in depth look at the machines -- currently residing at Lincoln Park Zoo, the Field Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry and Brookfield Zoo -- and the Jones' family business that keeps the Mold-A-Ramas in the area alive. Because once they're gone, they're gone for good -- as Paul Jones tells the paper, "No one [today] is going to build $50,000 machines to earn back $2 at a time." more ›

Today, we've talked about tigers and we've talked about hockey. Finally, the two converged this afternoon when a tiger at the Lincoln Park Zoo showed us all what Toews, Kane, Sharp, Buffy, Campbell, Niemi, and the rest of the high-flying Blackhawks will do to the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals. Phillyist was going to respond but the Philly zoo was closed down when the only exhibit left - full of Eagles fans - was shut down after the inhabitants escaped following Donovan McNabb's trade to the Redskins. more ›

On April 17, two red wolf pups were born at Lincoln Park Zoo and as of this Friday, they are on their way to North Carolina to be released back into a wild habitat to help give their endangered species a better chance of surviving. The pups will be introduced into a den of wild adult wolves that are currently raising another litter of pups. Sort of like adoption, but you know, with wild animals. more ›

• A DuPage County jury has sentenced Edward Tenney to death for a 1992 murder.
• Jury selection kicked off today in Calvin Boender's case.
• Authorities weren't too amused with a bus prank pulled by a pair of East Aurora High students.

In case you didn't know that the Lincoln Park Zoo' has a wishlist, they do - and among other things they need, they're respectfully requesting the funds to purchase some nest boxes to help their red pandas get it on in private. When that information crossed the desk of the Windy Citizen, editor Brad Flora and others jumped in and created the Lincoln Park Red Panda Sex Fund. more ›

...Guess I'm gonna give up. more ›

For the times that you want to go and bust rhymes real slow... more ›

An endangered snake, once believed to be one of two remaining in northeastern Illinois, gave birth to four babies last week at the Lincoln Park Zoo, according to Chi-Town Daily News. more ›

Summer travel season is still in full swing and Wired magazine released its "100 Geeky Places To Take Your Kids This Summer" list. Chicago's very own Adler Planetarium starts the list, the proposed home to a controversial projector. Also making the list? Lincoln Park Zoo and the Shedd Aquarium. more ›

It seems that one of the varieties of wildlife in the city is dwindling and a new program is hoping to change that. The eastern massasauga rattlesnake has seen its number in the area dwindle to the point of being declared endangered in the state. So, members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Illinois Department of Natural Resources are gathering as many as possible for a breeding program at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Lincoln Park Zoo biologist Joanne Earnhardt tells the Trib the snakes have non-lethal venom and are generally shy. [Tribune via Gapers] more ›

Some sad news from the Lincoln Park Zoo where Kipper, 9-year-old male chimp, died yesterday and six other chimps are also ailing. Spokeswoman Sharon Dewar said Kipper developed pneumonia in both of his lungs but the cause of his infection won't be known for up to two weeks as the zoo awaits the results of a necropsy. She added, "We are guessing it's a virus, but we don't really know exactly what it is. Six other chimps have shown cold-like symptoms and the zoo is doing their best to prevent the spread of any illness. Said Dewar, "We are doing everything to minimize the chance of that happening...this is really a difficult time for our team at the zoo." [Sun-Times] more ›

Let's start with the bad news. Like your ever-shrinking 401(k), the Lincoln Park Zoo's endowment fund took a significant hit last year -- a whopping $7.6 million in total. The bad loss is forcing the zoo to trim $1 million from its annual budget, which will include cutting programs and laying off staff. The positions the zoo is looking at getting rid of "will involve staffers working in animal care and welfare... but they also will touch on other zoo operations, such as concessions, grounds, administration, education and conservation." Zoo president Kevin Bell has pledged to take at least a 10% cut in his $352,500 salary -- we hope Bell can tighten his belt enough to get by in this day and age on only $300k. more ›

Zoolights is one of our favorite Chicago holiday traditions. Every night, from now until January 4th, Lincoln Park Zoo is filled with bright lights and holiday-themed activities for the whole family. Best of all? It’s free! We visited Zoolights last Friday night to bring you a glimpse of the colorful display. more ›

Oh, Vahzhno, we feel your pain. The eight-year-old male Siberian tiger at the Lincoln Park Zoo has been making passes at a fellow Siberian tiger, 11-year-old Molly, but to no avail. Miss Thang has been giving her younger man the shoulder (would the age difference make Molly a "cougar" tiger?) much to the consternation of zoo workers who are trying to get the two to mate. Dave Bernier, Curator of Mammals Lincoln Park Zoo, explained it like so: "We're trying to put our two tigers together for breeding. Our female Molly and our male Vahzhno. Every month or so when she cycles we introduce them together for two or three consecutive days in the hopes that they'll breed." Ah. more ›

Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Fridays and Saturdays through 12/20, 11:30 p.m., $16 more ›

Now that the holiday season is here, it's time to start having some yule'n fun. The annual ZooLights festival returned yesterday to the Lincoln Park Zoo, providing plenty of fun for the family. Best of all? It's free. The festival features more than 1.5 million lights runs every weekend through December 14 and then is open nightly from December 15th through January 1st (except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). Featuring events for the whole family, like arts and crafts and tips for keeping warm in the winter, the annual festival is free to all and has even gone a bit greener this year by using LED lights this year. The LP Zoo is open each day from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. with ZooLight fun starting at 5 p.m. Be one of the first 1,000 visitors each night and receive a free pair of 3-D glasses to enhance the experience. more ›

Lincoln Park Zoo was recognized last week for its critical support of the Tarangire Elephant Project, a conservation and research effort focused on the elephants in and around Tarangire National Park in Tanzania, Africa. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums awarded Lincoln Park Zoo the 2008 Significant Achievement Award for International Conservation, which will be shared jointly with eight other zoological institutions. For over a decade, the zoo has contributed to the project by providing significant research funding and scientific expertise, helping to preserve an elephant population once threatened by poachers. more ›

Got some fun burby-blurbs for you this week along with our usual round-up of goings-on in the cit-tay. more ›

The Lincoln Park Zoo's rockhopper penguin chick made its debut this afternoon. The chick hatched in early July, and zookeepers don't yet know its sex, but that shouldn't dissuade us from coming up with adorable names for him or her. more ›

The Flamingo Habitat at Lincoln Park Zoo has seen some major changes lately. To spur reproduction, renovations to the habitat have included denser vegetation (which flamingos prefer) and a flatter, muddier mix of soil (easing the building of nest mounds). And it worked: the zoo has flamingos laying eggs for the first time in its 140-year history. The first flamingo egg was spotted in late June, cracking soon after, and nine more eggs have appeared since. As of July 14, the eggs are still safe, but keepers at the zoo don’t know if they will survive through the 30-day incubation period, nor if the eggs are even fertile. Offspring are expected to start hatching in about two weeks. more ›