Lion at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Any trip to Chicago would not be complete — I think — without a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo.
The story of Lincoln Park Zoo begins in 1868 when the Lincoln Park Commissioners were given a gift of a pair of swans from the menagerie in New York’s Central Park. The zoo’s first director, Cyrus DeVry, was hired in 1888 and his tenure lasted more than 30 years.
Remember Marlin Perkins … Mutual of Omaha’s Wold Kingdom (boy, am I showing my age)? Well, he came to the zoo in 1945 and served as its director until 1962 and was instrumental in the formation of the Lincoln Park Zoological Society. He helped create the nation’s first year-round Children’s Zoo in 1959, followed in 1964 with the creation of the Farm-in-the-Zoo.
Today it’s one of the most modern zoos in the country; spacious, intimate displays, great food, wide walkways, paddle boats, facilities for private events … heck, they even have a summer concert series called Jammin’ at the Zoo! Best of all, the zoo is open 365 days and admission is FREE!
I have to admit that Lincoln Park Zoo holds many memories for me. Growing up in Chicago I spent many a day there whether I went with my class on a field trip or whether I hopped on the El and buses on my own to get there. I was one of the first visitors to the newly opened Farm-in-the-Zoo in 1964 on a class field trip. For a city kid, petting sheep and cows and feeding chickens was quite a thrill. I stole my first kiss with Mary (yes, I remember her name!) in the bushes at Lincoln Park Zoo. I also remember as a kid they used to have these huge, vacuum operated garbage cans in the shapes of clowns heads. The idea was that you brought your trash close to the gaping mouth of these giant clowns and the vacuum would suck the garbage right from your hand into its mouth … they kinda freaked me out, to be honest.
It was also great fun passing the zoo experience along to my own kids … picnic lunches, cotton candy, looking for my youngest for a couple of hours when we got separated once … finally found him in the lizard house. Good times, indeed.
My newest memory is the shot above. I had a day to kill before a photo shoot in the south suburbs so I spent it at the zoo. When I arrived at the lion display Mr. King of the Jungle here was sprawled out on a rather large boulder, basking in the sun. Not a very interesting photo, to say the least, so I waited for him to do something …
… and I waited … and waited … and waited some more. Almost an hour of leaning on the fence with my telephoto lens poised, and nothing! Finally one of the females sauntered over and perched herself on one of the near by boulders. Ah, that got his attention. He roused himself and started making deep, guttural noise. She, of course, paid him no mind at all. Finally she decided she was bored and leapt from her perch and the big guy decided to follow … which is when I finally got my shot!
I guess he was trying to steal a kiss, too!
Slainte!
Gareth
[Zoo info gleaned from the Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens page of the Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago website]
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Posted by Katie Olson 
