Animals
Lincoln Children’s Zoo is home to over 400 animals including giraffes, cheetahs, tigers, giant anteaters, red pandas, Humboldt penguins, ring-tailed lemurs, and Galapagos tortoises. Learn more about each of the animals that live here by exploring the areas below.
*This is not an all inclusive list of the animals at Lincoln Children's Zoo
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Violet Turaco
Musophaga violaceaCONSERVATION STATUS
Least ConcernNATURAL HABITAT
Violet turacos live in Western Africa.DIET
IN THE WILD – Fruit, flowers and arthropods
IN THE ZOO – Fruit, vegetables, berries and grainFASCINATING FACTS
• Release feathers when caught as survival technique
• Have 30 year lifespan
• Better at running through tree branches than flying
• Both parents take turns sitting on eggs -
Vulturine Guineafowl
Acryllium vulturinumCONSERVATION STATUS
Least ConcernNATURAL HABITAT
The vulturine guineafowl is found in a variety of habitats including jungles, forests, shrublands, grasslands and even areas of desert, depending on the abundance of food.DIET
IN THE WILD – Worms, insects, seeds, berries and small mammals
IN THE ZOO – Seeds, fruits, vegetables and various grainsFASCINATING FACTS
• Females build a nest out of twigs and leaves on the ground
• Can move up to 22 miles-per-hour
• Form flocks of 25
• Tallest and most colorful of all guineafowl
• Named for its vulture-like head and neck -
White-Faced Whistling Duck
Dendrocygna viduataCONSERVATION STATUS
Least ConcernNATURAL HABITAT
The white-faced whistling duck lives in a variety of wetland areas. They prefer bodies of freshwater with plentiful vegetation.DIET
IN THE WILD – Seeds, insects and fruit
IN THE ZOO – Fruit, vegetables and specially formulated grainFASCINATING FACTS
• Most vocal in the morning and evening
• Use different whistles for different situations
• Sometimes congregate in very large flocks numbering well into the thousands
• Nest on stick platforms near the ground
• Also called white-faced tree ducks, because they rest in trees -
Wood Duck
Aix sponsaCONSERVATION STATUS
Least ConcernNATURAL HABITAT
The Wood Duck lives in forests, swamps, fresh water marshes and pondsDIET
IN THE WILD – Aquatic plants, seeds, nuts, fruits and insects
IN THE ZOO – Greens, vegetables, insects and grainFASCINATING FACTS
• Can fly up to 30 miles per hour.
• After hatching, ducklings jump down from the nest to find water.
• Largest wingspan of any duck species in proportion to their body.
• If nests are too close together, females will lay eggs in neighboring nest and the female of that nest will raise the eggs.
Conservation
Lincoln Children’s Zoo is committed to animal conservation efforts and saving animals from extinction. Home to over 30 endangered animals, the Zoo strives to provide the highest-quality care to these near extinct species. Lincoln Children’s Zoo partners with organizations throughout the world that manage captive animals and wild animals with a goal to create a plan to ensure endangered animals are saved and protected for future generations.
The Zoo is part of the Association of Zoos & Aquarium’s Species Survival Plan, which oversees the management of select species with the goal of enhancing conservation in the wild. Species Survival Plan is led by expert advisors who work together to manage the demographic distribution and long-term sustainability of nearly 500 species.
Photo Ark Collaboration
Lincoln Children’s Zoo collaborates with National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore and his Photo Ark project. The Photo Ark is a groundbreaking effort to document species before they disappear and to get people to care while there’s still time. The Photo Ark started at Lincoln Children’s Zoo with the first photograph taken of a naked mole rat. To date the Photo Ark has documented 10,531 species. Find out more about Joel Sartore’s Photo Ark here.
