Chicago’s Urban Birding Festival is back in 2025 with dozens of field trips designed to spotlight the city’s avian diversity. Registration closes this Sunday.

On Thursday, Brookfield Zoo announced that Amelia Gray, an 8-year-old female, will be making the move from the Oregon Zoo to Chicago’s suburbs, where she’ll also be paired up with 5-year-old Hudson.

On Saturday, people of all ages are invited to join the rodeo in Kane County and wrangle the rusty crayfish, an invasive species that's infiltrated local waterways.

A zoo in Denmark made headlines when it solicited donations of pets to feed to its predators. WTTW News asked Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield Zoo Chicago to share their policies regarding feed sources.

Armadillos have been making a slow but steady push north. At this point, it’s a matter of when, not if, they’ll turn up in Chicago, according to one expert.

Starting in 2013, a mysterious sea star wasting disease sparked a mass die-off from Mexico to Alaska. The epidemic has devastated more than 20 species and continues today. Worst hit was a species called the sunflower sea star, which lost around 90% of its population in the outbreak’s first five years.

Ferris, one of three chicks hatched at Montrose in 2025, was killed by a red-tailed hawk midday Saturday, according to Chicago Piping Plovers.

In these extreme environments, the crushing pressure, scant food and lack of sunlight can make it hard to survive. Scientists know that tiny microbes prosper there, but less is known about evidence of larger marine life.

Amur leopards are critically endangered, with fewer than 100 estimated remaining in the wild.

Just as piping plover season was beginning to wind down, volunteer monitors in Waukegan have been called back into action, with four captive-reared chicks released on a Lake County beach earlier this week.

Aster was one of four chicks hatched barely a month ago by Blaze and Pepper. It was the pair's second season breeding on a Waukegan beach.

“This year, the names represent iconic Chicago landmarks woven into the city’s fabric and known to all visitors of our beloved city and community,” Chicago Piping Plovers said.

Researchers studied specimens of small mammals in the Field Museum’s collection to explore the ways animals are adapting to urbanization.

Officials at Shedd Aquarium say they are guardedly optimistic about the outcome of a groundbreaking surgery on 12-year-old Kimalu, who is now the first beluga whale to recover from general anesthesia.

Chicago’s lakefront is famously open and free. So why is a prime section of Montrose Beach roped off every summer? Because it’s for the birds. Literally. The piping plovers. WTTW News explains.

Three eggs of piping plovers Imani and Sea Rocket hatched as of Friday at Montrose Beach, according to monitoring group Chicago Piping Plovers.