Wish List

We’ve all been told a time or two not to play with our food, but for American black bears, Birch and Katai, play time and meal time can be one in the same. Keepers will place food inside of feeder balls to add an element of play to snack time. Add an element of fun to the bears’ Thanksgiving with a new feeder ball.

Canada lynx are mid-sized cats found primarily in the coniferous forests of Alaska and Canada. In the wild, these predators use their large paws to keep from sinking into the snow while they hunt their prey of choice, snowshoe hares. Here at Lincoln Park Zoo, the resident lynx sisters enjoy a meaty diet that features large mice, chicks, and rib bones. Make Buttercup and Thistle’s first Thanksgiving at Pepper Family Wildlife Center one to remember with a meaty feast.

In Southern Africa, Moholi bushbabies leap from tree to tree as they forage for food and small insects. When it comes to encouraging training behaviors or providing special enrichment, keepers rely on applesauce for giving the bushbaby the sweet treat they crave. Pick up some tasty applesauce for the moholi bushbaby this Thanksgiving!

The boggy habitats in Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo are home to a variety of turtle species. Keepers place spinning mirrors in the turtles’ habitats to encourage exploration. Help to nurture a turtle’s spirit of discovery with a shiny new mirror!

At Hope B. McCormick Swan Pond, Animal Care staff ensure the zoo’s waterfowl have ample space to swim, relax, and eat! A special floating island creates additional surface area in the middle of the pond, where pool residents can lounge or snack. Consider buying a new float for our feathered friends. Once the waterfowl discover this new enrichment, they’ll be sure to flock to it!

There’s nothing more important for the eastern black rhinoceroses at Lincoln Park Zoo than proper nutrition! In one year alone, the rhinos collectively munch through more than 700 bales of hay. Provide a nutritious meal for the rhinos this Thanksgiving season!

You may think the largest mammals and smallest birds have nothing in common, but they have at least one shared trait—their appetite for tasty cereal snacks! From great black bears to comparatively pint-sized penguins, many species at Lincoln Park Zoo love to crunch on grain-rich cereal. Keepers deliver the treat in a variety of ways —from hiding cereal within feeders to spreading the cereal around their exhibits— to encourage each species’ natural behavior.

A balanced diet starts with heathy greens—and Lincoln Park Zoo’s Diana monkeys love gourmet broccoli morsels! Zookeepers strategically place broccoli in the monkeys’ habitat to encourage natural foraging behavior while providing a tasty and healthy snack. This Thanksgiving, make a Diana monkey’s day with a bit of broccoli!

With Thanksgiving around the corner, folks are compiling grocery lists in preparation. When shopping for the resident insectivores, a keeper’s list is likely to include more than 20,000 crickets, 20,000 mealworms, 12,000 waxworms, 12,000 superworms, and 100 nightcrawlers. These tremendous totals represent about a week’s worth of bugs needed to nourish the snakes, chameleons, toads, and skinks who call Lincoln Park Zoo home. Give your favorite insectivores the ultimate Thanksgiving feast with a heaping helping of nutritious bugs.

Looking for the perfect treat for the red wolf pack at Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo? Look no further! Savory beef shanks provide nutrition while fostering the wolves’ natural hunting behaviors, such as snatching the meaty bones away from one another. We’d sure be thankful if you threw the pack a bone (or two!) by sharing nutritious, tasty meaty bones for the red wolf family to chomp on!

Green beans aren’t just for casseroles, many animals at Lincoln Park Zoo love this Thanksgiving dinner staple. For golden-headed lion tamarins, an endangered species native to Brazilian rainforests, green beans provide essential nutrients and, when scattered throughout their habitat, serve as an excellent foraging opportunity. Go green and supply these primates with nutritious green beans!

Corn is a versatile vegetable at Lincoln Park Zoo. Several animals at the zoo enjoy corn on the cob, including the Bourke’s parrots at the McCormick Bird House. Give these pinkish parrots an a-maize-ing taste for Thanksgiving.

Reaching up to nine feet tall and 285 pounds, the ostrich is the largest living bird and the fastest bird on land. To ensure proper nutrition for these brawny birds, Lincoln Park Zoo provides a diet of seeds and plants, and supplements their daily fare with oyster shells to boost calcium intake. Don’t be “shellfish,” shell out some oyster shells for the ostriches!

West African dwarf crocodiles are slow-moving, timid reptiles that can grow up to five-and-a-half-feet long and weigh 70 pounds. When floating balls are introduced to their habitat, the crocodile takes to the water to push the ball with their long snout. Keep this rad reptile rockin’ and rollin’ with a new ball!

Japanese macaques, Francois langurs, swamp monkeys, gorillas, and other primates throughout the zoo enjoy foraging for sugar-free gelatin that keepers tuck into coconut shells for a tasty surprise. When they’re done, the primates like to play with, or gnaw on, the remaining shells. This Thanksgiving, pass the gelatin to the monkeys and apes!

In the wild, the brush-tailed bettong seek out fungi at mealtime—specifically mushrooms, tubers, and legume pods. At Lincoln Park Zoo, these nocturnal marsupials are fed mushrooms as a part of their dietary enrichment. These dietary habits are not to be ‘truffled’ with, so this Thanksgiving chip in for some mushrooms for the bettongs.

The celebrations keep coming at Pepper Family Wildlife Center! This month, Lincoln Park Zoo is thrilled to wish African lion Jabari a happy birthday. Make his first birthday at Lincoln Park Zoo one to remember with a meaty birthday feast fit for a king!

Did you know that Flemish giant rabbits live up to their names with sturdy frames that can reach up to 22 pounds? Keepers provide the rabbits with leafy greens, grass hay, and fresh fruits, and vegetables to keep them strong and healthy. Help these happy hoppers have their own Thanksgiving feast and purchase some of their favorite leafy greens!

In the wild, animals don’t have their meals delivered at the same time each day. Here at Lincoln Park Zoo, Animal Care staff use timed feeders to intermittently distribute food at different times, and in different locations throughout an animal’s habitat. By randomizing food delivery, animals are encouraged to forage and search. This Thanksgiving, give the birds of prey a moveable feast with a new timed feeder!

When Wildlife Waystation, an unaccredited wildlife facility in California, closed in 2019, more than 40 chimpanzees were left in need of long-term care. Lincoln Park Zoo was proud to rehome two of those chimpanzees, Eli and Susie, at Regenstein Center for African Apes. Today, Eli and Susie are getting the high-quality care, appropriate social integration, and lifetime support they deserve. As they continue integrating with the other resident apes in their group, keepers use highly desired treats like cranberries and popcorn to facilitate social interaction and bonding. Pick up some cranberries and popcorn for the chimpanzees today!

Temperatures are getting cooler and we all want to snuggle in and get cozy. The frogs and toads in Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House like to get comfy and cozy in several different ways. Some like to burrow into soft soil, and others like to nestle into hammocks. Provide your favorite amphibians with their own cozy corner today!

Rae, a 3-year-old giraffe at Regenstein African Journey frequently chooses to participate in operant training at the training wall in the outdoor habitat. Keepers say rye crisp crackers are the way to her heart! Select some crackers today to keep Rae crunching and munching away!

In the wild, polar bears build insulating blubber by preying on seals. At Lincoln Park Zoo, we supply the carnivorous bears with hearty Atlantic salmon and grizzly salmon oil to give them the fatty sustenance they need to stay warm all winter long. Celebrate Talini’s birthday--and prepare for the long winter ahead--with a deliciously fatty fish feast!

In their native habitat in Central America, Rio Fuerte beaded lizards prey on insects, small rodents, lizards, birds, and eggs. The four male lizards who reside at Lincoln Park Zoo enjoy snacking on quail eggs for a special treat. Pick up a heaping helping of quail eggs for the lizard lounge this Thanksgiving!

Did you know that kelp is used around the zoo to provide enrichment for several animals. At Farm-in-the-Zoo, keepers will hang a curtain of kelp to give the chickens tactile enrichment. ‘Kelp’ out our feathered friends and buy some kelp today.