Things to Do
Chicago's most adorable new resident weighs about as much as a refrigerator, took her first steps less than two hours after she was born, and now has a name that means "treasured." Meet Hazina, the baby eastern black rhino at Lincoln Park Zoo, and here is everything you need to plan a visit.
Some new arrivals in Chicago come with a ribbon-cutting. This one came with a 60-pound calf wobbling to her feet under the watchful eye of her mother. On March 19, 2026, a critically endangered eastern black rhinoceros named Kapuki gave birth to a female calf at Lincoln Park Zoo, and after several weeks bonding behind the scenes, the calf made her public debut at the end of April. The zoo named her Hazina, which translates to "treasured" in Swahili, because, as her namer put it, she will be treasured by all of Chicago.
If you have been looking for a reason to spend an afternoon in Lincoln Park, this is it. Here is the full story, what else is new at the zoo, and how to make the trip easy.
Hazina is the third calf for 20-year-old Kapuki, and her first with 21-year-old father Utenzi. She weighed roughly 60 pounds at birth and hit every early milestone fast, walking, nursing, and growing under close care. Her birth is part of the Eastern Black Rhinoceros Species Survival Plan, a coordinated breeding program among accredited zoos working to protect a species that has been pushed to the edge.
That edge is real. Eastern black rhinos are listed as critically endangered. Their wild population dropped by an estimated 98 percent between 1960 and 1995, largely due to poaching for their horns, and conservation efforts have since brought numbers back to roughly 1,000 in the wild. In North America, there are only around 57. A healthy calf like Hazina is not just cute, she is genuinely important.
Hazina took her first steps at less than two hours old, and she has been treasured by Chicago ever since.
While Hazina is the headliner, she shares the spotlight with a pair of new arrivals. In April 2026, the zoo welcomed two young Sichuan takin brothers, Porter and Taiyang, members of the goat-antelope family native to China. With their curved, handlebar-mustache horns and the loose flap of skin under their chins, the takins are one of the more unusual animals you will see in the city. You can find the brothers in the South side of the zoo's campus, and because takins gather in herds in spring and summer, the warmer months are a good time to catch them out and about.
Here is the part that surprises out-of-town visitors: Lincoln Park Zoo is free, and open 365 days a year. Founded in 1868, it is one of the oldest zoos in North America and a genuine Chicago landmark, tucked right into the lakefront parkland just north of downtown. You can walk in, see a critically endangered rhino calf, wander past lions and gorillas, and walk out without paying admission.
That makes it one of the best-value family days in the city, and one of the most popular, which brings us to the only hard part of the visit.
The zoo is free. The parking is not, and on a nice weekend it is one of the more frustrating lots in the city to find a spot in. The zoo sits in the heart of Lincoln Park, surrounded by the park, the lakefront, and dense residential streets where parking is scarce, metered, and permit-restricted. Families arrive excited and spend their first 40 minutes circling.
This is exactly the kind of trip a chauffeured car service was made for. We drop you right at the entrance, you spend your energy on the animals instead of the parking app, and we are back at the curb whenever you are ready to head home, no stroller-folding in a parking garage, no hike from a side street with tired kids.
We will get your whole family to the Lincoln Park Zoo gate and back, on one flat rate with no surge pricing. For larger groups, our Mercedes Sprinter vans seat up to fourteen with room for strollers. Book your ride or call (708) 289-0488.
The zoo pairs naturally with the rest of the neighborhood. Within a short ride or walk you have the Lincoln Park Conservatory, the Nature Boardwalk, the lakefront and North Avenue Beach, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and the shops and restaurants along Armitage and Halsted. If you are visiting from out of town, our Lincoln Park car service can string the whole day together, zoo in the morning, lunch on Armitage, the lakefront in the afternoon, without a single parking search.
Coming in for the day from the suburbs or beyond? We run flat-rate trips from across Chicagoland, including Naperville, Schaumburg, and Evanston, and direct transfers from both O'Hare and Midway if you are flying in to see the city.
Hazina will be a fixture at the zoo for years, eastern black rhino calves stay close to their mothers for about two years, so there is no rush. But a baby rhino does not stay baby-sized for long, and there is something special about seeing her now, while she is still finding her footing. Go meet her. We will handle the drive.
