Sea Lions in Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park Zoo is located on what was originally Chicago's Municipal Cemetery. In the 1860s, the graves were removed, and the land was named Lincoln Park for the recently assassinated president. Lincoln Park Zoo was created when New York City's Central Park Zoo donated a pair of swans to Chicago. The population of the zoo grew through the purchase of a collection of animals from the Barnum and Bailey Circus and from the donations of affluent Chicagoans. Lincoln Park Zoo today attracts both children and adults from around the world, covers a 35-acre area, and is home to over two thousand species of animals.