For the first time, Brookfield Zoo is exhibiting a pangolin, a rare animal native to Africa and Asia.

A west suburban forest preserve is dispatching an army of freshwater mussels to clean up contaminated waters. “They may be small, but they have enormous beneficial effects on the lives of other organisms,” said one staff member.

Experts in Chicago are working to save one of the world’s most endangered birds. 

The ethical debate over zoos – and whether animals belong in them – has resurfaced over the past year, and now Brookfield Zoo is joining the discussion.

The tale of the Western pond turtle was one of several success stories shared with donors Monday evening at a Shedd Aquarium event focused on conservation efforts nationwide. 

For the fifth year, members of Shedd Aquarium's Animal Response Team participated in a rescue mission of endangered penguin chicks in South Africa. Learn about their work.

Alligator snapping turtle Patsy McNasty moved into a new 300-gallon tank this week at Chicago's Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, where visitors attended a “housewarming” event for the 14-pound turtle. 

The newborn female Bornean orangutan joins five other orangutans living at the Brookfield Zoo.

Meet a former elite soldier from Australia who is now using his special set of skills to combat poaching in Africa.

The eastern massasauga rattlesnake, also known as the “swamp rattler,” produces venom more toxic than most other rattlesnakes.

The Shedd Aquarium is calling on President Barack Obama to sign legislation that aims to curb the highly lucrative, international business of illegally trading endangered and threatened animals.

The Lincoln Park Zoo gave journalists a sneak peek of the new African penguin exhibit, which aims to replicate the birds' natural habitat in southern Africa.

A Chicago conservation alliance is asking for the public’s help to save a dozen native species, including the endangered Blanding's turtle.

On Thursday, World Rhino Day, the zoo donated a piece of horn from one of its black rhinos to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency will use the sample to train its canine unit that sniffs out contraband at O’Hare International Airport.

Blanding's turtles, an endangered species in Illinois and a half-dozen other states, are getting a head start on survival at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.

Two red panda cubs at the Lincoln Park Zoo are born to love the Chicago Cubs. Like their two siblings born the previous year, the names of the cubs, revealed Tuesday, were inspired by Wrigley Field.