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Monday 10am - 5pm Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 5pm Sunday 10am - 5pm

Potawatomi Zoo

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We are open for the season 3/28/26-11/29/26 (closed Thanksgiving Day). See hours & ticket details on our website.

Potawatomi Zoo, located in South Bend, is home to over 400 species on 23 acres. The Zoo is a regional destination serving and educating all who visit. Our history is rich, and we are proud to be a special part of this community.

11/02/2026

He’s getting better at this, right? Raya has been doing her best to show Clifford how to climb, and he’s doing his best learning! We’re so proud of our good boy! 🥰

10/31/2026

Our playful little Amur leopard cub still doesn’t have a name, but we’re working on it! What would you name him!?

If you missed the announcement last week, this male cub is being hand reared. Although Anastasia, a first time mother, showed some signs of interest, she didn’t care for him the way she needed to, so management made the decision to try and save his life with hand-rearing. At 6 weeks old now, he’s growing up healthy and strong, and we have high hopes for his future.

10/30/2026

Okay, let’s see what the bison think of the big pumpkin! We gave it to Zipper first. She’s a lot smaller than Bobbie, and sometimes he’ll dominate the enrichment if we don’t give her first chance.

As expected, they were immediately interested in this large, orange intruder! Both Zipper and Bobbie pushed it around for a while and then left to get breakfast.

Who else should we give a giant pumpkin to?

10/29/2026

What a beautiful fall day! Frankie, our southern white rhino, has a giant pumpkin. Will he smash it?

Spoiler alert: no. 😂 But he did poke it with his horn, so that’s sort of something!

Thanks to Zoo Staff Nick for documenting this momentous experience.

10/27/2026

Our little Amur leopard cub already has some noisy opinions!

Hand-rearing an Amur leopard cub (out of necessity, since his mother didn’t quite get the hang of mothering) is a little different than raising a domestic cat. Even at 6 weeks old, he has a powerful bite and sharp claws!

Since Amur leopards are critically endangered, our hope is that this little guy grows up healthy and is able to start his own family as part of the sustainable population of Amur leopards in AZA-accredited zoos.

10/26/2026

We missed Seymour's 10th birthday last week on October 23, but he certainly didn't miss out on birthday snacks! This big, handsome guy got lots of lettuce during Zoo Boo!

Despite starting out fairly skeptical of the giraffe feeding deck, Seymour has turned out to be one of our most consistent and enthusiastic giraffe feeding participants.

You can distinguish Seymour from the other giraffes by his one angled ossicone (the horn-like structures) and his light coat.

10/24/2026

Big Cat Tracks construction update!

A lot of exciting news this time! We’ve got the catwalk and a brand new pool for tigers, plus a nearly complete leopard habitat with grass. We’ll also take a look behind the scenes and admire the new sidewalks.

We’re still scheduled to open BCT next March! For donation information, check out expandingourprints.org.

10/23/2026

We have a pretty exciting announcement! A critically endangered male Amur leopard cub was born to mom Anastasia and dad Mango on September 8!

This is Anastasia's first cub, and although she showed some mothering instincts, she didn't feed and care for him like she needed to. After several attempts to unite Anastasia and her cub were unsuccessful, Animal Care management and Zoo vet decided to hand-rear the cub. It's always a risk to hand-rear, but thanks to dedicated around-the-clock care by our staff, the cub seems to be growing up healthy and strong.

There are only around 100 Amur leopards in the wild, and around 200 in zoos worldwide. With such critically low numbers, every birth is incredibly important to create a sustainable population, and we're so proud to be part of the Species Survival Plan for Amur leopards. It gives us hope that this incredible species might one day come back from the brink of extinction.

10/22/2026

We love a family that dresses up for Zoo Boo together!

Zoo Boo has one more weekend left, and it looks like it's going to be great weather to collect candy, ride the haunted train, see the Zoo, and more! Visit October 23-24, 2-9 pm, and October 25, 10 am to 5 pm. Last entry is 1/2 an hour before close.

More details at potawatomizoo.org/zooboo.

10/21/2026

Anteaters and capys and pumpkins, oh my!

Pumpkin is a great enrichment and treat for most animals at the Zoo. The anteaters like to rip apart the pumpkins with strong front claws, and the capybaras can bite through them with their front teeth. Fun for everyone!

Thanks to Keeper Ellie for the videos.

Address

500 S Greenlawn Avenue
South Bend, IN
46615

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 5pm
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm
Sunday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

(574)2359800

Website

http://www.potawatomizoo.org/

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