Lincoln Park Zoo’s Walter Family Arctic Tundra just got louder—and a lot cuter. For the first time since 1979, two brown bears are on exhibit, and the African penguin colony is raising a chick that hatched Oct. 1. The arrivals cap a fall flurry of transfers and breeding work that has keepers adjusting for winter care—and give Chicagoans a fresh reason to swing by before seasonal rhythms take over.
Brown bears are back in the Arctic exhibit
Two female brown bears, Ash and Lexi, have arrived at the Walter Family Arctic Tundra, marking the first time Lincoln Park Zoo has cared for brown bears since 1979. According to Lincoln Park Zoo, the pair came from Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wis., and keepers describe them as closely bonded and playful. They’re adults, but their exact ages are unknown because they were born in the wild.
The bears were removed from the wild as cubs in 2011 after Montana wildlife officials deemed them unreleasable when their mothers became habituated to people and taught the cubs to raid garbage. Before coming to Chicago, they spent time at the Dakota Zoo and Henry Vilas as part of a transfer that also sent Lincoln Park’s male polar bear Siku to Madison with hopes for breeding, as reported by Chicago Star Media.
A tiny penguin with outsized conservation stakes
An African penguin chick hatched Oct. 1 after roughly a 40-day incubation and is doing well under the care of animal-care and veterinary staff. At its most recent exam, the chick weighed about 4.23 pounds and is being raised by foster parents Liam and Maria while the biological pair, Rosie and Cecil, are monitored, according to Lincoln Park Zoo. “As a critically endangered species, each new African penguin chick represents an immense amount of hope for the species’ future,” Curator Nicole Finch‑Mason said in the zoo’s statement.
Why it matters — and how to plan your visit
African penguin numbers have plunged over decades, with breeding pairs falling from roughly 141,000 in 1956 to under 20,000 today—a decline conservationists are tracking closely, per Chicago Star Media. The chick will remain behind the scenes until it fledges and can swim in waterproof juvenile plumage; keepers hope it will join the colony on public view once it’s ready. Meanwhile, the new brown bears may enter winter torpor soon and could spend long stretches out of sight, so plan your visit accordingly—CBS Chicago also covered the debut.
