GraysonDP
Well-Known Member
Lincoln Park Zoo Review
Date of Visit: July 25, 2016
I visited the Lincoln Park Zoo for the second time this summer but it was a new experience since I was only 12 the first time I went and it was in January. The free zoo is quite popular and has many attractive animals but is quite small and largely organized by taxidermy. There are a few excellent exhibits but much of the zoo is small and outdated.
Excellent
Regenstein Macaque Forest- An absolute gem that must be the best macaque exhibit in the country. The exhibit is loaded with a hot springs, tons of fake trees and logs, ample elevation and climbing opportunities, excellent rockwork and realistic looking enrichments for the monkeys to play with. I appreciate the high level of naturalism in the exhibit and feel transported to a hot springs in Japan when looking at it. The macaque family was a joy to watch and acted in the way they naturally do. A brilliant exhibit and without a doubt state-of-the-art.
Regenstein Center for African Apes- A very solid complex for gorillas and chimpanzees. Three habitats (two topped and one open-topped) are not super large but decently sized and packed with enrichments, climbing structures, vegetation, ropes and a good amount of shade. The open topped one is my favorite and housed chimpanzees on my visit as the gorillas were in the indoor rooms. That one has ample vertical space and a nice crevice between rocks with a log going across it- what a brilliant idea. Exhibit design wise I’d say it’s in the middle between trying to recreate the Congo (Bronx, Dallas, North Carolina, etc.) and presenting apes in a modern habitat that doesn’t attempt to recreate a forest at all (Indianapolis, Philadelphia, etc) but this exhibit ultimately turns out to be a winner and I’d say is one of the 12 best gorilla exhibits in the country. The indoor rooms are quite nice with lots of ropes and natural light and this exhibit does a great job at conveying a conservation message alongside the habitats.
Pritzker Children’s Zoo- A nice set of habitats with a North American theme. Otters and beavers both have underwater viewing, the beavers have a realistic naturalistic lodge, red wolves have a wooded yard with lots of hiding spaces and black bears have a nice exhibit with a great viewing space through a mock tree.
Average
Regenstein African Journey- A popular exhibit but one with largely average habitats. Originally African elephants were housed in a subpar exhibit at the front that was much too small but now it houses black rhinos. For the rhinos the yard is decent but smallish and mostly sand with a large tree. Another smaller yard on the side of the building houses another rhino. African wild dogs live in a grassy exhibit that’s a bit on the small side but quite nice and suitable for the pack to hide and move around. Red river hogs have a nice exhibit with a brilliant muddy backdrop while giraffes, Grant’s gazelles and ostriches roam in a savanna that’s one of the smallest of its kind. Inside the building, pygmy hippos and dwarf crocodiles live in habitats with nice pools and underwater viewing but little land area. Meerkats inhabit a decent sandy exhibits with lots of enrichments and climbing opportunities and aardvarks are exhibited close by. A shockingly small indoor giraffe exhibit is right behind the meerkats. Cichlids have a nice tank while klipspringers live in a mock rock all-indoor habitat shared with lovebirds. An aviary for birds is quite nice while a primate exhibit is too small.
Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House- An average building with some moments of greatness and charms. Animals present include saki monkeys, sloths, Asian small-clawed otters, caimans, san cats, lorises, geckos, fire-bellied toads, naked mole rats, chameleons, bushbabies, baos, pythons, tamarins, fennec fox, mongoose, fruit bats and howler monkeys. A rainforest exhibit at the end is quite nice while the other enclosures are relatively standard.
Antelope and Zebra Area- Typical hoofstock yards that are a bit smaller than you’d expect. Most exhibits are quite bland and lacking of naturalism. Present species include Grevy’s zebras, Bactrain camels, takins, peccaries, red kangaroos, ostrich and alpaca.
McCormack Bird House- A pleasant but forgettable building.
Weak
Kovler Sea Lion Pool- Not one of the very worst sea lion pools I’ve seen but one that is becoming increasingly outdated as newer, bigger, better and more naturalistic sea lion exhibits are raising the standards. It actually doesn’t contain sea lions anymore and just has seals.
Helen Branch Primate House- An outdated building housing a variety of small primates in relatively weak and unnaturalistic exhibits. Primates present include langurs, colobus monkeys, Goeldi’s monkeys, titi monkeys, howler monkeys, crowned lemurs, tamarins and gibbons.
Kovler Lion House- A complete abomination that will thankfully be renovated soon. The building is historic and undeniably beautiful but the inside is dominated by ridiculously small exhibits viewed behind wires and honestly feel like living big cats have been put in displays at a museum. Amur leopards and jaguars live in dark hideous mock rock displays with murals in the background while servals live in a mock rock habitat with almost no straight space. Lions live in a similarly sad indoor exhibit that gives them no room to act like lions and tigers don’t fare any better. Outside the lions and tigers have grottoes but, while they have natural substrate, are quite small, subpar and have nasty moats around them. On the other side, species such as cougars, red pandas and snow leopards live in exhibits that are much too small and feel like glorified cages.
Date of Visit: July 25, 2016
I visited the Lincoln Park Zoo for the second time this summer but it was a new experience since I was only 12 the first time I went and it was in January. The free zoo is quite popular and has many attractive animals but is quite small and largely organized by taxidermy. There are a few excellent exhibits but much of the zoo is small and outdated.
Excellent
Regenstein Macaque Forest- An absolute gem that must be the best macaque exhibit in the country. The exhibit is loaded with a hot springs, tons of fake trees and logs, ample elevation and climbing opportunities, excellent rockwork and realistic looking enrichments for the monkeys to play with. I appreciate the high level of naturalism in the exhibit and feel transported to a hot springs in Japan when looking at it. The macaque family was a joy to watch and acted in the way they naturally do. A brilliant exhibit and without a doubt state-of-the-art.
Regenstein Center for African Apes- A very solid complex for gorillas and chimpanzees. Three habitats (two topped and one open-topped) are not super large but decently sized and packed with enrichments, climbing structures, vegetation, ropes and a good amount of shade. The open topped one is my favorite and housed chimpanzees on my visit as the gorillas were in the indoor rooms. That one has ample vertical space and a nice crevice between rocks with a log going across it- what a brilliant idea. Exhibit design wise I’d say it’s in the middle between trying to recreate the Congo (Bronx, Dallas, North Carolina, etc.) and presenting apes in a modern habitat that doesn’t attempt to recreate a forest at all (Indianapolis, Philadelphia, etc) but this exhibit ultimately turns out to be a winner and I’d say is one of the 12 best gorilla exhibits in the country. The indoor rooms are quite nice with lots of ropes and natural light and this exhibit does a great job at conveying a conservation message alongside the habitats.
Pritzker Children’s Zoo- A nice set of habitats with a North American theme. Otters and beavers both have underwater viewing, the beavers have a realistic naturalistic lodge, red wolves have a wooded yard with lots of hiding spaces and black bears have a nice exhibit with a great viewing space through a mock tree.
Average
Regenstein African Journey- A popular exhibit but one with largely average habitats. Originally African elephants were housed in a subpar exhibit at the front that was much too small but now it houses black rhinos. For the rhinos the yard is decent but smallish and mostly sand with a large tree. Another smaller yard on the side of the building houses another rhino. African wild dogs live in a grassy exhibit that’s a bit on the small side but quite nice and suitable for the pack to hide and move around. Red river hogs have a nice exhibit with a brilliant muddy backdrop while giraffes, Grant’s gazelles and ostriches roam in a savanna that’s one of the smallest of its kind. Inside the building, pygmy hippos and dwarf crocodiles live in habitats with nice pools and underwater viewing but little land area. Meerkats inhabit a decent sandy exhibits with lots of enrichments and climbing opportunities and aardvarks are exhibited close by. A shockingly small indoor giraffe exhibit is right behind the meerkats. Cichlids have a nice tank while klipspringers live in a mock rock all-indoor habitat shared with lovebirds. An aviary for birds is quite nice while a primate exhibit is too small.
Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House- An average building with some moments of greatness and charms. Animals present include saki monkeys, sloths, Asian small-clawed otters, caimans, san cats, lorises, geckos, fire-bellied toads, naked mole rats, chameleons, bushbabies, baos, pythons, tamarins, fennec fox, mongoose, fruit bats and howler monkeys. A rainforest exhibit at the end is quite nice while the other enclosures are relatively standard.
Antelope and Zebra Area- Typical hoofstock yards that are a bit smaller than you’d expect. Most exhibits are quite bland and lacking of naturalism. Present species include Grevy’s zebras, Bactrain camels, takins, peccaries, red kangaroos, ostrich and alpaca.
McCormack Bird House- A pleasant but forgettable building.
Weak
Kovler Sea Lion Pool- Not one of the very worst sea lion pools I’ve seen but one that is becoming increasingly outdated as newer, bigger, better and more naturalistic sea lion exhibits are raising the standards. It actually doesn’t contain sea lions anymore and just has seals.
Helen Branch Primate House- An outdated building housing a variety of small primates in relatively weak and unnaturalistic exhibits. Primates present include langurs, colobus monkeys, Goeldi’s monkeys, titi monkeys, howler monkeys, crowned lemurs, tamarins and gibbons.
Kovler Lion House- A complete abomination that will thankfully be renovated soon. The building is historic and undeniably beautiful but the inside is dominated by ridiculously small exhibits viewed behind wires and honestly feel like living big cats have been put in displays at a museum. Amur leopards and jaguars live in dark hideous mock rock displays with murals in the background while servals live in a mock rock habitat with almost no straight space. Lions live in a similarly sad indoor exhibit that gives them no room to act like lions and tigers don’t fare any better. Outside the lions and tigers have grottoes but, while they have natural substrate, are quite small, subpar and have nasty moats around them. On the other side, species such as cougars, red pandas and snow leopards live in exhibits that are much too small and feel like glorified cages.
