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The
zoo
was
founded
in
1868,
when
the
Lincoln
Park
Commissioners
were
given
a
gift
of
two
pairs[6] of swans by Central
Park's
Board
of
Commissioners
in New
York
City.[7] Other
animals
were
soon
donated
to
the
park,
including,
a puma,
two elk,
three wolves,
four eagles,
and
eight peacock.[8] In
1874,
a
bear
cub
from
the
Philadelphia
Zoo
was
the
first
animal
purchased
by
the
zoo.
The
bear
became
quite
adept
at
escaping
from
its
home
and
could
frequently
be
found
roaming
Lincoln
Park
at
night.[9] In
1884,
reportedly
the
first American
bison born
in
captivity
was
born
at
the
Lincoln
Park
Zoo.[10] At
this
time,
the
species
had
almost
been
hunted
to
extinction
in
the
wild—in
1896,
the
United
States
government
purchased
one
bull
and
seven
cows
from
the
Zoo's
bison
herd
to
send
to Yellowstone
National
Park to
assist
in
the
species'
revival.[8]
From
1888
to
1919
the
director
of
the
Lincoln
Park
Zoo
was
the
flamboyant Cy
DeVry,
who
organized
the
collection,
built
many
new
structures,
and
obtained
the
zoo's
first
elephant
and
monkeys.
A
new
Lion
House
opened
in
1912.
It
was
later
renovated
and
reopened
in
1990.
The
Primate
House
opened
in
1927,
and
was
known
for
housing
a
popular
gorilla
named
Bushman
(1931–1951),
one
of
the
only
gorillas
in
a
U.
S.
zoo
at
the
time.[11][12] The
zoo's
great
apes
were
moved
to
the Lester
E.
Fisher Great
Ape
House
in
1976,
named
for
the
zoo's
outgoing
director,
and
the
original
Primate
House
was
later
renovated
and
reopened
in
1992
as
the Helen
Brach Primate
House,
featuring
more
naturalistic
settings.
Marlin
Perkins,
who
gained
fame
as
the
host
of
the
television
program Zoo
Parade and
later, Wild
Kingdom,
was
director
of
the
zoo
from
1944
until
1962.
He
created
and
recruited
a
citizens
group
to
support
the
Zoo's
mission,
the
Lincoln
Park
Zoological
Society.
The
facility
underwent
a
dramatic
transformation
in
the
1970s
and
1980s,
with
the
additions
of
many
new,
naturalistic
exhibits.
In
1995,
the
Zoological
Society
assumed
management
of
the
zoo
from
the Chicago
Park
District,
which
remains
the
owner.[11] Zoo
administration
is
currently
housed
in
the
nearby
building
previously
used
by
the Chicago
Academy
of
Sciences,
which
moved
to
a
new
facility
in
1999.
The
Kovler
Sea
Lion
Pool
opened
the
same
year
after
an
extensive
renovation,
and
is
now
home
to
the
zoo's harbor
seals.[13]
Regenstein
African
Journey,
a
renovation
of
the
zoo's
former
Large
Mammal
House,
opened
in
2003,
turning
the
zoo's
largest
building
from
concrete
showcases
for
a
few
large
mammals
into
a
series
of
naturalistic
settings
that
tell
the
story
of
the
wildlife
of
the
African
continent,
welcoming
the
return
of
the
zoo's African
elephants and giraffes as
well
as
new
additions
such
as
the aardvark, ostrich,
and African
wild
dog.[14] Two
years
later,
the
zoo
renovated
its
Great
Ape
House,
opening
the
Regenstein
Center
for
African
Apes,
which
focused
on
the
zoo's
troops
of common
chimpanzees and western
lowland
gorillas,
putting
a
special
emphasis
on
researching
the
behaviors
of
both
species
and
creating
new,
naturalistic
habitats.[15]
In
2003,
the
book The
Ark
in
the
Park:
The
Story
of
Lincoln
Park
Zoo was
also
published
by
the University
of
Illinois
Press.
The
book
was
written
by
Mark
Rosenthal,
Carol
Tauber,
and
Edward
Uhlir.[16][17]
In
2010,
Lincoln
Park
Zoo
transformed
the
adjacent
South
Pond
to
create
the
Nature
Boardwalk,
an
ecological
habitat
designed
by Studio
Gang
Architects that
features
native
wetlands
plants
and
wildlife.[18]
In
December
2011,
the
Kovler
Penguin-Seabird
House,
which
had
previously
been
home
to rockhopper, king
penguins, common
murres and puffins closed
down
after
thirty
years
at
the
zoo
due
to
worries
about
the
deteriorating
condition
of
the
building,
prompting
outcry
from
some
Chicago
residents.[19] It
was
soon
announced
it
would
be
replaced
with
a
newly
renovated
West
Gate,
featuring
a
children's
train
and
an
all-new
exhibit,
Regenstein
Macaque
Forest,
featuring Japanese
macaques,
or
"snow
monkeys",
in
a
state-of-the-art
exhibit
with
a
hot
spring,
set
to
open
in
fall
2014.[20]
It
was
announced
in
March
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