The Robert R. McCormick Bear and Wolf Habitat contains seven outdoor habitats for spectacled bears, maned wolves and polar bears--all critically endangered species. Both the bear and the wolf habitats have special denning areas for new mother and their young.

The polar bear habitat is one of the largest in the world, with a 266,000 gallon pool and underwater viewing windows.

Shrouded in mystery, the rarely seen maned wolf is named for the patch of long black hairs growing along its shoulders and upper back that stand on end when the animal is threatened or frightened. While its name and wolf-like size imply a close relation to wolves, it is not a wolf at all. With big ears and a tapered snout and its hunting technique of pouncing on small mammals and birds, it actually is more similar in appearance and behavior to a long-legged red fox. In fact, its Paraguayan name means "bog fox."

Native to grasslands, swamp borders and scrub forests of South America, this endangered wild dog has adapted to survive in its varied habitats. Its stilt-like legs help it see over and move through tall grasses, lack of underfur protects it from overheating and its large, erect ears act as heat radiators as well as sound detectors.

While researchers don't know exactly how many of these shy, solitary animals actually remain in the wild, there are fewer than 200 maned wolves in captivity at more than 40 zoo worldwide. An active participant in the maned wolf SSP, Lincoln Park Zoo has had more than 16 successful births since our maned wolf breeding program began in 1972.

Species data sheets:

 

 

The polar bear makes its home literally on top of the world, in the icy regions of the arctic circle. Known to the Inuit Indians as Nanook, meaning great-white bear of the north, the polar bear is extremely well adapted for life in a frozen world. The bear's black skin absorbs the sun's warm rays while layers of fat covered with thick, white fur insulates its body against the arctic air and water. The dense hair on the soles of its broad feet allows for quick, sure-footed travel on the ice. Equipped with an excellent sense of smell, sharp claws and white on white camoflage, this clever hunter has been known to slink along the ice on its belly, covering its black nose with a paw in order to sneak up on unsuspecting seals, its primary food source.

For more than 110 years, polar bears have been a traditional favorite at Lincoln Park Zoo. Our polar bear exhibit is one of the largest in the world, designed for both polar bears and visitors. Outlined by craggy cliffs and rocks, the 266,000 gallon pool has a small salt water lagoon and underwater viewing windows for visitors to observe an impromptu polar bear water ballet.

Standing on its hind legs, an average adult male polar bear towers 8 feet in height and weighs in at 1,000 pounds. Weighing just over one pound at birth and covered only with a thin coat of white hair, cubs are kept warm all winter long by snuggling in ice caves and nursing on their mother's fatty milk. When spring arrives four months later, cubs emerge from the den 25 pounds heavier and ready for their first hunting lesson.

 

High in the Andes of South America lives a small, tree-climbing bear rarely seen by man. In Ecuador, it is called "osos de anteojos," Spanish for "the bear with eyeglasses." In North America, we call it the spectacled bear. The only bear to be found south of the equator gets its name from the distinctive white circles around its eyes, which resemble a pair of eyeglasses. Each spectacled bear also has a pattern of white markings on its face, neck and chest that is as unique as a set of fingerprints and can be used to tell one bear from another.

The endangered spectacled bear is rapidly disappearing from the wild. Lincoln Park Zoo is leading a conservation effort with one of the most successful spectacled bear breeding programs in the world, a commitment reflected in the amount of space and number of naturalistic habitats devoted to these bears. Lincoln Park Zoo manages approximately 20% of the captive spectacled bears in North America and 10% worldwide. Close to 30 spectacled bear births have been recorded here since our breeding program began in 1968.