FALL/WINTER 2020 Stronger Together Unwavering animal care during the pandemic, dazzling holiday delights, animal welfare, & more PERSPECTIVE LINCOLN PARK ZOO FALL/WINTER 2020 DEPARTMENTS MAGAZINE VOLUME 19, NUMBER 2 Our New Normal Perspective / 3 It’s hard to believe that more than seven months have passed since we first felt the CONTRIBUTING FEATURES Wild File / 4 impact of COVID-19 on Lincoln Park Zoo. EXECUTIVE STAFF So much has happened since March. We closed for four months and reopened again Excellence Continues / 9 Holiday Haul / 15 PRESIDENT AND CEO under City and State guidelines for operating during a pandemic. We lost a beloved Despite the global pandemic Green Scene / 19 Kevin J. Bell eastern black rhinoceros and white-cheeked gibbon but welcomed a beautiful Grevy’s bringing Lincoln Park Zoo’s first zebra foal and an adorable African spoonbill (one of our favorite species). We cancelled extended closure in 152 years Zoo Family Album / 20 ZOO DIRECTOR several events but were honored when many people donated the cost of their ticket. We and economic hardship, the zoo’s Megan R. Ross, Ph.D. Field Note / 22 limited our capacity for on-grounds visitors but expanded our live streaming options to dedication to providing the best VICE PRESIDENT OF bring the zoo to guests virtually. possible animal and plant MARKETING AND While continuing to operate has meant navigating a series of changes, one thing has care continues. Cover: Seal Slater COMMUNICATIONS remained constant: you. When times are tough, our zoo family swings into action. We Photo by Jill Dignan Beth Krauss are very, very grateful. Holiday Happenings / 12 The holidays are a special time at Lincoln Park Zoo. Taking this year's circum- CREATIVE LEAD ‘Tis the season for dazzling holiday stances into consideration, we've mapped out the holiday season at the zoo with great Chris Bijalba delights at the zoo! Enjoy festive care and cautious optimism. Our plan prioritizes safety (always) and allows us to con- evenings and activities, unique DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC tinue our most precious traditions, like ZooLights Presented by ComEd and Invesco gift ideas sure to spread cheer, RELATIONS AND QQQ. We can’t wait to safely enjoy this season with you all. But, there are some changes. and luminous displays at the 26th COMMUNICATIONS Due to financial challenges presented by the pandemic, we made the tough decision ZooLights Presented by ComEd Jillian Braun to charge for ZooLights. It was a lose-lose choice between charging for a historically and Invesco QQQ. free event or forgoing the tradition completely. We just couldn’t imagine a Chicago MAGAZINE STAFF winter without ZooLights, so we chose the former and set tickets at $5 per person. We are also offering five free nights of ZooLights to ensure we remain accessible for all and Why Did the Chicken EDITORS are sharing hundreds of tickets with our community partners. We’ve implemented a Jillian Braun Receive Great Care? / 16 few other safety protocols (read more on page 12), so it will be a little different than the Chris Pullam Lincoln Park Zoo is dedicated ZooLights you know, but we’re confident it will still be a ZooLights you’ll love. to using science to improve the ART DIRECTOR Thank you for supporting Lincoln Park Zoo. As the year comes to a close, we hope welfare of the species in its care. Joann Raia you will take one more opportunity to make a gift to the zoo. Whether you attend Discover how the zoo’s Feed the ZooLights or participate in the new ZooLights Virtual Challenge, whether you renew a CONTRIBUTORS Chickens program sets the stage membership or buy an ADOPT plush stocking stuffer, your contribution matters. Every Sarah Anderson for great animal welfare while dollar helps us give animals their favorite foods, provide exceptional veterinary care, Ashley Bedore connecting guests to nature and continue our conservation work, and offer a top-notch guest experience. We can’t do Chris Bijalba fostering care. it without you. • Sabrina Cynova Hyson Gibbon KEVIN J. BELL MEGAN R. ROSS, PH.D. Our Impact Depends on You PRESIDENT AND CEO ZOO DIRECTOR Who funds Lincoln Park Zoo? You do! Zoo members, donors, and visitors help cover around 80% of our annual operating costs to keep this non-profit, privately managed institution open and free every day and support its mission of wildlife conservation, animal care, and learning. Support the zoo at lpzoo.org/donate. 2 | LINCOLN PARK ZOO FALL/WINTER 2020 | 3 WILD FILE: NEWS OF THE ZOO BY CHRIS PULLAM The Three Little Pigs Studying Chicago's attitudes, and behaviors by talking to res- idents in various neighborhoods about There are three new piglets at Farm-in-the-Zoo, and they are here to stay. Unpopular Neighbors their observations. In order to honor social The new arrivals, one male and two females, arrived the same way as every other Lincoln Park Zoo researchers with the distancing, they have instead pivoted to piglet over the past two decades: each year, through a partnership with a local farmer, Urban Wildlife Institute have been study- online surveys to collect the data. pregnant guinea hogs come to live at ing the ecology and health of Chicago’s To learn more about the study, visit the zoo. Then, after giving birth and rats since 2017 in order to help prevent lpzoo.org/rats. To take part in the online nurturing their offspring for a few human-wildlife conflict and public health survey, email Murray at maureenmurray@ months, the sows and their piglets risks from rat infestations. lpzoo.org. return to the farm. Their hope is that a better understand- But this time, three of the new- Zoo Park Lincoln by Photo ing of urban rat ecology will help prevent borns have found their forever home. the risks associated with rats—includ- Bigger Than Life “They are going to be the last hogs ing the spread of disease and damage to On July 9, Animal Care staff at Lincoln Park Zoo made the difficult but responsible deci- train airport security dogs to sniff out smug- to be born here for a long time,” says property—and reduce human conflict sion to euthanize Maku, a 34-year-old male eastern black rhino. He had recently been gled rhino horn that comes into the U.S. Curator of Mammals Mike Murray. with urban wildlife. To minimize these experiencing age-related health issues and discomfort that led to reduced mobility, “It's difficult to put into words what “This will be a different kind of expe- damages, pest management experts spend which Veterinary staff had been closely monitoring and treating to provide him with Maku has meant not only to our zoo rience for guests, who will spend Darst Allycia by Photo billions of dollars annually to manage rats the best possible care. family, but to the community as a whole,” season after season with them and get in the U.S. alone. The second-oldest male of his species in North America, Maku was renowned across says Curator of Mammals Mike Murray. to know about them as individuals.” So far, the research has shown a the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) community. Over his lifetime, he helped “We're proud to have his legacy live on Mother pig Raspberry gave birth to 10 piglets on June 29 at Farm-in-the-Zoo. direct correlation between the number sustain the population of critically endangered eastern black rhinos by siring six off- through his most recent calf, Romeo, but Raspberry and seven of the offspring have returned to the farm, but the other three are of rat complaints and the number of cap- spring, who then produced a granddaughter and two great-grandsons. we will greatly miss his laid-back person- making themselves at home, forming bonds with Animal Care staff, and enjoying enrich- tured rats in Chicago neighborhoods. At Lincoln Park Zoo, he was seen by millions of guests since his arrival in 2003. ality and seeing him wallow in the mud or ment that hones their problem-solving skills. According to wildlife disease ecologist Beyond the zoo world, Maku will continue to help rhino conservation by support- romp through a fresh snowfall.” To learn more about recent changes at Farm-in-the-Zoo, read pages 16–18. Maureen Murray, Ph.D., the result was ing the fight against illegal wildlife trafficking; over the years, Lincoln Park Zoo has heartening because the City of Chicago donated the shavings from Maku’s horns to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help uses rat complaints to prioritize rodent A Light control. Zoo researchers then went into in the neighborhoods with high and low rat Engaging Communties complaints and found that complaints Throughout the pandemic, Lincoln Park OPEN Center for the Arts artists make Darkness were higher where there were piles of Zoo has continued partnering with neigh- each workshop as accessible as possi- unsealed garbage in alleys. Amid the uncertainty borhood partners to explore nature topics ble by designing the art activities around Their studies also found that alleys of the COVID-19 pan- through interactive activities. common household objects, like con- with more standing water are home to demic, Animal Care Community Engagement staff success- struction paper, crayons, and even flour, more rats with Leptospirosis, a bacterial staff found a little fully pivoted Artecito, a bi-monthly work- and participants can also ask questions blood disease caused by direct or indirect hope when African shop co-created and co-hosted by Lincoln throughout each workshop. By the end contact with an infected animal's urine.