Top 10 Lincoln Park Zoo Happenings in 2025

It’s been another action-packed year for Lincoln Park Zoo! 2026 is on its way, but in the meantime, here are some of the significant achievements and events that took place this year at your free zoo.

1. Lincoln Park Zoo hosted Dr. Jane Goodall in Chicago.

Jane Goodall visits with the behind-the-scenes chimpanzee troop at Lincoln Park Zoo. Photo (and above featured photo) by Kyle Flubacker.

The late, great Dr. Jane Goodall came to Chicago for the Women Supporting Wildlife Luncheon on September 11, which was followed by a visit to the zoo. There, she experienced her last-ever interaction with chimpanzees as she spent time with the behind-the-scenes troop at Regenstein Center for African Apes. Goodall passed away on October 1 after a lifetime of studying and advocating for chimpanzees, inspiring others, and spreading hope. She credited a conference held in Lincoln Park in 1986 with changing her focus from studying chimps in the wild to working toward their conservation.

2. The zoo started its own podcast, which tells some incredible stories of what happens here.

If you’ve ever wanted behind-the-scenes access at Lincoln Park Zoo, you’ll want to tune in monthly to our podcast, That Tracks. The first four installments cover topics like zoo nutrition, conservation, veterinary care, and the job of a zookeeper!. You can access it wherever you get your podcasts, or go to the zoo’s YouTube page.

3. The zoo saw many comings and goings this year, including new primates, a herd of alpacas, and brown bear sisters!

New arrivals included an African penguin chick, which was named by public vote, emperor tamarins Sal and Feta, a flower power meerkat mob, JC the lar gibbon, Tucker the North American river otter, several female alpacas, a couple of adorable domestic goats, southern black howler monkey Marlie, and brown bears Lexi and Ash. The highest-profile departures took place when Siku the polar left to hopefully father cubs at Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin, and African lions Pesho, Sidai, and Pilipili transferred to other accredited zoos.

4. The zoo celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Malott Family teen programs…

For 30 years, the Malott Family’s programs for Chicago high school students have offered the city’s young people the opportunity to learn about conservation careers, educate others about animals and the zoo, and investigate informal education techniques during its Zoo Intern Program. And in the Research Apprenticeship Program, teens learn how to conduct real, original scientific research with Lincoln Park Zoo scientists. RAP earned top honors when it received the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Education Award this year (see below).

5. …and the 25th anniversary of the AZA Population Management Center.

Meanwhile, the PMC has provided full-time scientific support to help manage stable, healthy animal populations in AZA zoos since 2000. If you’ve heard of Species Survival Plans® and the way they help maximize genetic diversity and long-term sustainability for animal populations at accredited institutions, you’ve seen the PMC in action. The PMC creates Breeding and Transfer Plans for nearly 300 SSPs.

6. At the 2025 AZA conference in September, Lincoln Park Zoo walked away with three awards in different categories, highlighting its leadership in multiple areas.

Lincoln Park Zoo received the Advocacy Impact Award, for uniting partners around the Captive Primate Safety Act; the Education Award (Top Honors) for the Malott Family Research Apprenticeship Program; and the Earned Media Excellence Award (Top Honors), which was given for Lincoln Park Zoo and The New York Times partnering for primates. Read the 2024 article that resulted here.

7. The Urban Wildlife Information Network continues to grow—it now has 63 partners around the world, all contributing to research on animals who live in cities.

A new pilot project announced this year and supported by Lincoln Park Zoo aims to study the efficacy of rat contraception in Chicago. At this study site, UWI staff have placed a camera trap to capture rat activity.

The zoo’s Urban Wildlife Institute collects data designed to help people and animals from bats to coyotes coexist in shared spaces. To do so, it collaborates with universities, research labs, and nongovernmental institutions that are part of UWIN, which this year has expanded to 63 partners in 10 countries on four continents. This year, it added partners in California, Italy, Texas, and Louisiana to participate in biodiversity monitoring and community actions.

8. Zoo scientists published more than 22 articles in peer-reviewed journals this year.

Image courtesy of Cassy Kutilek

Journal articles authored by zoo staff and published this year included research on reptile wellbeing, multi-institutional giraffe behavior with data gathered by ZooMonitor (which is now free to all), the movement of lions across the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania, the color preferences of primates, climate change effects on pit vipers, and the illegal wildlife trade.

9. Staff at the zoo harvested more than 1,900 pounds of produce in the garden at Farm-in-the-Zoo for animals at the zoo.

Image courtesy of Marisa Elizalde

The gardens at Farm-in-the-Zoo have long helped city dwellers understand food production. This year, it shifted to becoming a browse garden, growing food for the animals in the zoo’s care. This year’s crop included tomatoes, zinnias, herbs, squash, and pumpkins, which went to animals at the farm, Regenstein Center for African Apes, Helen Brach Primate House, and Regenstein Macaque Forest. Most of the items are part of their daily diets, but some—including herbs and flowers—are offered as enrichment.

10. Lincoln Park Zoo advocated for the Endangered Species Act and for the Captive Primate Safety Act.

A coalition of partners led by Lincoln Park Zoo continued to champion the Captive Primate Safety Act, which was reintroduced in Congress this year with 55 sponsors, thanks in part to the zoo’s efforts. The zoo also brought attention to a proposed change in language in the Endangered Species Act, narrowing the definition of the word “harm” to only include physical acts against individual animals—excluding current protections against habitat modification.