The Wash­ing­ton Park Zoo founded in 1928, encom­passes 15 acres on a hilly sand dune and located near the south­ern shore of beau­ti­ful Lake Michi­gan. The zoo exhibits more than 90 species orig­i­nat­ing through­out the world. The ani­mals are exhib­ited in nat­ural set­tings, sur­rounded by botan­i­cal plant­i­ngs. Among the exhibits are Ben­gal tigers, Cot­ton top tamarins, Amer­i­can alli­ga­tors, Griz­zly bear, Grey kan­ga­roos, Ring-​tailed lemurs, River otters, Bald eagles, and more.

Some of the other zoo high­lights are the Rotary Cas­tle that exhibits some of the cold-​blooded crea­tures includ­ing lizards, snakes, and frogs. The Aus­tralian Adven­ture which is a walk through aviary fea­tur­ing over 250 colour­ful free fly­ing para­keets and the Red barn exhibit hous­ing the minia­ture domes­tic horses, don­keys, pigs, and goats. The zoo also has many unique his­tor­i­cal WPA walk­ways and build­ings, includ­ing the 70 foot tall obser­va­tion tower.