The 23-year-old female whale was part of a second group of four whales that arrived at Shedd in mid-August, following a pod of four who came to Shedd in late July.

Deep in Barrington's horse country, a former equestrian farm is being restored to native wetland and grassland habitat. How's it going?

The belugas are the latest to be rescued from Marineland, a shuttered theme park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which closed to the public in 2024. Last month, a first group of four beluga whales arrived at Shedd Aquarium.

“Working with wildlife comes with such highs and lows,” said Carolyn Lueck, president of Lake County Audubon Society.

Calling for reinforcements! It’s a piping plover-palooza in Waukegan where the ratio of hatchlings to adults is suddenly 6 to 1.

“I had a better chance of photographing a unicorn,” Luke Dahlberg said of discovering the rare bird.

Barely a week after four beluga whales were transferred from Marineland, a defunct Canadian water park, to Shedd Aquarium, the newcomers have already made an impression on their caretakers.

A complicated, high-stakes rescue of 30 beluga whales from a defunct Canadian water park is underway, with four of them arriving Tuesday at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.

An unprecedented international rescue effort is underway to find new homes for some 30 beluga whales. Shedd Aquarium is answering the call.

Chicago piping plover monitors are mourning the loss of a second chick in less than a week at Montrose Beach.

The Chicago Park District announced the chicks will now be known as Buddy, Frankie, Mavis and Tweedy, after Chicago’s celebrated musicians Buddy Guy, Frankie Knuckles, Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy.

An avian soap opera is playing out in Waukegan where this year’s piping plover breeding season has been full of unexpected plot twists.

While a number of high-profile bills failed to garner enough support during the spring session of the Illinois General Assembly, the designation of an official state bee sailed through both the House and Senate.

On May 9, one of the herd's females gave birth to a calf, the first baby bison born on tallgrass prairie in the county in 200 years, officials estimate.

Most birds migrate over Chicago at night. A new network of acoustic monitors is tracking their movements by listening for what can't be seen.

Isle Royale in far western Lake Superior between Grand Marais, Minnesota, and Thunder Bay, Canada offers scientists a rare opportunity to observe wolves and moose largely free from human influence.