2010 Highlights
- On June 24, 2010, Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo opened to the public. This important local conservation initiative, which transformed Lincoln Park’s South Pond into a restored natural ecosystem, will help students and visitors from all walks of life understand their role as environmental stewards of the earth. Nature Boardwalk will become a center for local conservation education for millions of general zoo and park visitors, students and teachers, and promises to be a national model that can be emulated by cities across the country. Open every day, this 14-acre outdoor wilderness classroom features a wide range of educational programs and mobile labs designed to promote hands-on learning that informs the public about regional wildlife and the importance of preserving wetlands and freshwater ecosystems.
- At Zoo Ball 2010 “Rock & Roar” guests came and partied like rock stars as Lincoln Park Zoo’s grounds were transformed to a contemporary musical escape. This special evening grossed over $830,000 for Lincoln Park Zoo, with all proceeds applied towards the Women’s Board’s $2 million pledge to Nature Boardwalk.
- Lincoln Park Zoo’s mission of conservation education and care was recognized at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) 2009 national conference. The zoo was awarded Top Honors in International Conservation for the chimpanzee conservation efforts in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park. The zoo partners with The Jane Goodall Institute on research projects in the Gombe area, from studying chimpanzee health and play to investigating the mother-infant relationship.
- AZA also awarded Lincoln Park Zoo a Significant Achievement Award in Education for the creation of “Exploring Ape Behavior,” a program that enables visitors to experience firsthand the behavioral research of scientists at the zoo’s Regenstein Center for African Apes.
- At the Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo, two of six newborn red wolf pups, one of the world’s most endangered wild canids, were released into the wild in North Carolina as part of the Red Wolf Recovery Program. The pups were inserted into dens of adult wild wolves that serve as foster parents. These pups are the first wolves from Lincoln Park Zoo to be released to the wild.