LINCOLN PARK — The days of seeing penguins at the Lincoln Park zoo while crammed in a dark indoor space are over.
The zoo is debuting a brand new outdoor habitat for a new species of penguin this fall. When it opens to the public on Oct. 6, it will be the first time since the deteriorating Kovler Penguin-Seabird House closed in 2011 that visitors will be able to see penguins at the zoo.
This time the zoo is bringing in black-footed South African penguins, which "have a much wider range of temperatures they can live with, which works really well in Chicago," unlike the Antarctic-native rockhopper penguins in the previous exhibit, according to Dave Bernier, general curator at the zoo.
To start, there will be about 15 of them, but the zoo expects that number to grow up to 25 as the animals breed. The penguin breeding plan will be similar to other breeding plans at the zoo.
"They make a breeding plan and say, 'This penguin and this penguin would make the best pairing.' It's like the Match.com of penguins," joked Megan Ross, vice president of animal care at the zoo.
The new exhibit, dubbed the Robert and Mayari Pritzker Penguin Cove, not only offers more room for the penguins to roam around, but it also offers more activities. There will be both rocky and sandy areas, as well as deep pools for swimming.
One of the outdoor viewing areas will allow visitors to go nose-to-nose with the penguins when they stand on the rocks.
One of the new outdoor viewing areas. [DNAinfo/Mina Bloom]
Building a new penguin exhibit is part of the zoo's multimillion dollar improvement plan.
The zoo is also building a huge new polar bear exhibit, which will open it to the public sometime this fall. Earlier this year, the zoo renovated the Kovler Seal Pool.
A new learning center, visitor center and making upgrades to the main mall and west gate are also part of the plan.
As of June 16, the zoo had raised a total of $87 million toward its $125 million goal to improve the zoo through its capital improvement plan, the Chicago Pride Campaign.
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