Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Park Zoo Former Species

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PAKMan

Well-Known Member
I've seen this thread in other forums and didn't see that anyone had posted it here, so I thought I'd get it going. Lincoln Park Zoo has had hundreds of animals over the years (I was reading an article recently where outgoing CEO Kevin Bell said that when he started as a bird curator, the bird house alone had more species than occupied the entire zoo). I don't know if it's possible to create a comprehensive list, but I thought this might be at least a start.

Animals are listed by the exhibit they occupied.

Current Exhibits:
Camel and Zebra Area
Alpaca
Arabian Oryx
Grant's Sable Antelope
Muscovy Duck
Patagonian Cavy
Thomson's Gazelle
Waterbuck
White-Lipped Deer

Helen Brach Primate House
Drill
Mandrill
Pygmy Marmoset
Red-Ruffed Lemur
Squirrel Monkey

Kovler Seal Pool
California Sea Lion

McCormick Bird House
Toco Toucan

Pritzker Family Children's Zoo
American Kestrel

Regenstein African Journey
African Bush Elephant
African Porcupine
Rock Hyrax
Thomson's Gazelle
Warthog

Regenstein Birds of Prey Exhibit
Secretary Bird

Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House
Cotton-Top Tamarin
Fennec Fox
Koala
Patagonian Cavy
(I have vague memories of an echidna in the area where the Jamaican Iguana currently is, but I can't say for certain it was there)

Former Exhibits:
Kovler Lion House
Afghanistan Leopard
Amur Leopard
Amur Tiger
Asian Lion
Black Leopard
Cheetah
Eurasian Lynx
Jaguar
Mountain Lion
Pallas' Cat
Serval

Kovler Penguin/Seabird House
Atlantic Puffin
King Penguin
Rockhopper Penguin

Lester E. Fisher Great Ape House
Bornean Orangutan

Regenstein Large Mammal House
African Bush Elephant
Asian Elephant
Brown Pelican
Mexican Grey Wolf
South American Tapir (not sure which specific species)

Robert R. McCormick Bear and Wolf Habitat
Andean Bear
Malayan Sun Bear
Maned Wolf
Spotted Hyena
 
Pritzker Family Children's Zoo:

North American opossum
Bobcat
Groundhog

Kovler Penguin/Seabird House:

Macaroni penguin
Chinstrap penguin

Regenstein Large Mammal House:

Lowland tapir

Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House:

Pygmy marmoset
Emperor tamarin
North American porcupine
Short-eared elephant shrew
Springhaas

Helen Brach Primate House:

Black lemur
Red-and-black ruffed lemur
Black-and-white ruffed lemur
Lion-tailed macaque
 
Back in the eighties, the small mammal house had outdoor moated enclousures. I recall these anímals, bushdogs,collared peccaries, prarie dogs, and wallabies.
 
carlos55 said:
Back in the eighties, the small mammal house had outdoor moated enclousures. I recall these anímals, bushdogs,collared peccaries, prarie dogs, and wallabies.
Click to expand...

By any chance, do you happen to know when the original small mammal house closed? I'm 33 and I don't ever remember it being open. All my memories of it were of a dark, closed building and overgrown moats.
 
The small mammal house was still open during the eighties.The outside exhibits were nice. The interior exhibits were too small, but many nice species were Kept there. Some i recall were Great anteaters, geofreys cat, tree kangaroo, white faced saki and caracal. A nocturnal área had night monkeys, a Palm civet, slow loris, and for a short time, a flat headed cat, among other animals.
 
Regrettably it is many years since I visited Lincoln Park Zoo but I recall, back in 1987, seeing a pacarana Dinomys branickii there.

I've seen very few pacarana; they've always been rare in European zoos, so I was very pleased to see the species in Chicago.
 
Yes, now i recall that the pacarana lived with a pair of howler monkeys in the small mammal house.
 
Here is how i recall the old small mammal house. Outside were 4 moated enclousures. Inside there were some larger exhibits for Great anteaters, geoffrey cats, howler monkey, caracal, tree kangaroo, serval and crested porcupine . There were smaller exhibíts for marmosets , tamarins, tree shrews and diverse rodents. There was a nocturnal área. Here were loris, Palm civet, diverse bats, galago and springhas, fennec foxes, and a nice exhibit with sloth, armadillo and night monkey all together.
 
Thank you so much for your insight! That building has long since been torn down and replaced with a gift shop/cafe.
 
There was grant's gazelle in African Journey at one point, I recall the signage but did not sight the animals and that is the main reason I even remember them.

Nine-banded armadillo was once in the Small Mammal-Reptile House.
 
As a side note, the zoo originally intended to display Cheetah at African Journey.

Waterfowl Lagoon
American Flamingo

Small Mammal-Reptile House
Parma Wallaby
Coquerel's Mouse Lemur
Green Aracari
Lesser Madagascar Hedgehog Tenrec
Rock Hyrax
Prevost Squirrel
Short-Beaked Echidna (confirmed here from PAKman's mention)

Regenstein Birds of Prey
Himalayan Monal
Gray Owl
Hooded Vulture

McCormick Bird House
Amazon Parrot
Cape Thick-Knee
Common Barn Owl
Marabou Stork
Roseatte Spoonbill

There are additional birds listed at source and source but I suspect they are blurring residents from Regensten Birds of Prey,
 
One hundred and one years ago, Lincoln Park Zoo received a one-year-old bull Nile Hippo called "Spermint" from Memphis. He was also the first-born of the many calves of the legendary hippo pair Adonis and Venus. Nothing is known about the rest of his life.
Tierdetails
 
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PAKMan said:
^ They still have them. They're listed as Spotted Dikkop on the website/signage.
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Thank you for clarifying. I definitely saw Spotted Dikkop last time (in May) but I'd forgotten it was the same species when I was looking through the list.
 
Lincoln Park Zoo has held Cuvier's dwarf caiman in the recent past and may still hold them behind the scenes. There are references to the animal being on display in 2010, 2013, 2019 and 2020. It was in a separate exhibit from the Spectacled Caiman, as there are references to this species in 2010, 2016, and the same 2019 article; only the Spectacled Caiman is mentioned in this list from 2021 or onward, however. The 2019 article implies but does not outright confirm the species is held behind the scenes, as it is specifically mentioned in a subsection that is focused on behind the scenes holding and the species' longevity is invoked.
 
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