Celebrating 10 Years with the Urban Wildlife Institute

Wildlife enriches our lives. If we are to steward biodiversity into the future, we must learn empathy for animals, and to coexist with those that live in the wild…in our backyards and beyond.

Lincoln Park Zoo is proud to house one of the largest zoo-based conservation science departments in the country. For the past 30 years, our zoo scientists have completed research and discovered insights now used across Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited institutions—and, indeed, the world—in the fields of population management, endocrinology and epidemiology, great ape behavior and conservation, and wildlife reintroductions. One of our Conservation & Science centers, the Urban Wildlife Institute (UWI), has focused specifically on the intersection of humans and wildlife in our rapidly urbanizing world.

UWI marks its 10th anniversary this month, an exciting milestone for Lincoln Park Zoo and the institute as a whole. UWI formally debuted on January 28, 2009. Drawing on multidisciplinary scientific expertise, it integrates landscape and animal ecology with epidemiology research to create a holistic approach to ecosystem health as it applies to urban settings. UWI’s vast monitoring and analyses of the Chicago area’s biodiversity (more on that later) has become a model for other urban areas struggling to deal with wildlife relocation, rehabilitation, zoonotic disease threats, and human-wildlife conflicts.

Above, top: UWI Assistant Director Liza Lehrer attaches a motion-triggered trail camera in a Chicago neighborhood to monitor urban wildlife. Above, bottom: Scientists at California State University in Long Beach are using UWIN trail-camera data to learn how the urban Los Angeles region influences carnivore movement and behavioral interactions that bring coyotes into conflict with humans.

Photo at top of blog post: A colony of black-crowned night herons that nests above the Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo at Lincoln Park Zoo is monitored by UWI researchers.

UWI’s projects in these areas have included monitoring bat, opossum, mice, and many other populations to assess diversity, distribution, and disease; measuring the success of translocating woodchucks; protecting a rare colony of black-crowned night herons that nest at Lincoln Park Zoo; and mentoring high school and college interns pursuing careers in environmental sciences.

The idea for UWI was born while I was visiting a chimpanzee reserve in Africa with an epidemiologist and a primatologist then at the zoo, Dominic Travis and Elizabeth Lonsdorf. We discussed how this problem—the conflict between animals and humans in urban areas—wasn’t studied very much. We thought doing so could provide important insights into, and impacts for, wildlife if we could take advantage of all of the great scientists at the zoo and apply them towards making urban areas better for native animals as well as human populations.

As UWI got going, I wanted to know right away which diseases were present in our area and decide how we could manage these species better. Our excellent scientists fittingly stopped me, saying, “Wait a second. Before we look at diseases and improvements, we have to know what animals are here.”

So, they got to work learning what animals call Chicago home. They set up camera traps on transects across the city and monitored the images, slowly building a multilayered data set of thousands of images of animals like chipmunks, deer, coyotes, beavers, and many species of birds—this is now the world’s largest study of urban wildlife. They launched ChicagoWildlifeWatch.org, where today members of the public can view the catalog of images, help ID species, and discover the city’s biodiverse landscape.

A UWI team member prepares to install an acoustic detection device for recording bats’ echolocation calls at a local golf course. Golf courses, parks, and cemeteries around Chicago are prime green spaces for urban wildlife.

In the last few years, UWI has placed a special emphasis on the transmission of disease from animals to humans. By studying species population patterns and how people and animals interact in an urban setting, UWI can help scientists understand—and curb—zoonotic disease threats such as Lyme disease, rabies, West Nile virus, and avian influenza. We’re proud to see that this work is of interest to many Chicagoans, too. Some of UWI’s recent work on analyzing the city’s rat populations was highlighted by the Chicago Tribune and WBEZ.

In 2017, UWI expanded to launch the Urban Wildlife Information Network (UWIN). UWIN’s aim is to bring the study of wildlife to other urban centers and develop best practices to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and learn from wildlife around us. UWIN is now an incredible force of 19 partners ranging from universities to zoos in cities across North America. It’s been successful enough that other cities continue to contact us and say, “We want to be part of this.”

In 2019, Lincoln Park Zoo will host an inaugural UWIN Summit, where all our partner institutions and invited urban planners will come together to discuss what we’ve learned and how we can best share information. This work offers vast potential for city planning and landscape design that uses UWIN’s data to shape green spaces and built environments conducive to both wildlife and people.

UWI researchers safely trap, examine, and release small mammals, such as deer mice and voles, in Chicago to assess their population abundance, distribution, and the risk of zoonotic disease transmission.

What most excites me is the opportunity for UWIN to expand beyond North America. This work may be even more relevant in places like Tanzania where there are conflicts between land owners, domesticated animals, and native wildlife. We might even be able to take some of what we’ve learned in urban areas in the United States and apply it to cities in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Our future goals include influencing urban planning and related legislation from our own backyard to metropolises far beyond our borders. We're thinking big picture. Thanks to the generosity of philanthropic supporters, UWI continues to thrive and set new standards for conservation.

As I look back at Lincoln Park Zoo’s 150-year history, there are some really key points in time that stand out as reasons for its success. Using science to better the lives of animals and human communities is certainly one. By continuing to expand UWI’s reach and impact, I think we’re doing an even better job of attaining our goal of inspiring communities to create environments where animals and people can coexist.

Kevin J. Bell
President and CEO
Lincoln Park Zoo