First Animal at Lincoln Park Zoo: Nubian Lioness for $1,000 (1868)

The Purchase That Started Chicago's Free Zoo

In July 1868, the Lincoln Park Commissioners bought the zoo's inaugural animal: a female Nubian lion from Van Amburgh's Menagerie in New York for $1,000 (≈ $22,000 today).

Context

• Van Amburgh's was a famed traveling menagerie/circus (Isaac Van Amburgh, "Lion King").
• The lioness was housed in a temporary wooden shed near the park's greenhouse.
• Public fascination spurred donations for a proper Lion House (completed 1870).

Why It Mattered

• Lincoln Park Zoo became one of the first free municipal zoos in the U.S. (still free today).
• The $1,000 purchase signaled civic commitment to public education and recreation.
• By 1874, the zoo held 200+ animals; now ~1,100 across 200 species.

Nubian Lion Note

The Nubian (or Barbary) lion (Panthera leo leo) is extinct in the wild (last seen 1940s). Modern lions in zoos are typically Southern/East African subspecies.