What are the opening hours?

Saturday 11am - 4pm Sunday 11am - 4pm

Potawatomi Zoo

We are open for the season 3/28/25-11/23/25. See hours & ticket details on our website. The Zoo is a regional destination serving and educating all who visit.

Potawatomi Zoo, located in South Bend, is home to over 400 species on 23 acres. Our history is rich, and we are proud to be a special part of this community.

12/23/2025

It’s the last weekend of The Gift of Lights, presented by Indiana Michigan Power , December 26-28! Extend the holiday joy a little longer with lights, hot drinks, pictures, and animals!

The Gift of Lights is 5-9 pm on Friday and Saturday, and 5-8 pm on Sunday. You can see Elsa on Fridays and Sundays, and the Grinch on Saturdays!

Details at potawatomizoo.org/lights.

12/22/2025

Today on “Whose B***y Is That?”

It’s AJ, the prairie dog! AJ was rescued and couldn’t be released into a group, so he’s a new ambassador animal at the Zoo. He’s very mellow and enjoys greeting people with a friendly prairie dog wahoo! He’ll start appearing at programs and classes soon, helping Zoo educators teach important topics like biomes, wild animal rescue, and conservation.

12/20/2025

What do animals want for Christmas? Our bears like to eat fruit and play with big toys! Our anteaters like avocado and ripping up boxes or bags! Big cats like things that smell strange!

If you want to help our animals get what they want most, you can send them a gift from their Amazon Wish List! Curated by our zoo keepers, this list includes enrichment items and other tools that help zoo keepers provide exceptional care for animals big and small. Thank you!

www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2HW1GXO03GMGQ?ref_=wl_share

12/19/2025

Have you seen one of these Visit South Bend information kiosks yet? They’re around the town, and we’re delighted to have one at the Zoo now! See upcoming community events, learn about the area, or even take a selfie!

12/18/2025

We're so happy to celebrate the holidays with you!

Two more weeks of The Gift of Lights, presented by Indiana Michigan Power, remain: this weekend and next! Join us every Friday through Sunday starting at 5 pm through December 28! This weekend, we're pleased to welcome the Civic Theatre young performers on Friday (5:45 and 7:30), as well as Elsa on Friday and Sunday and Santa every day! Also look out for everybody's favorite bad banana sneaking around on Saturdays from 6-8 pm!

potawatomizoo.org/lights

12/17/2025

Who likes winter? These guys! EJ and Raya are made for cold temperatures, with double-layered fur coats and fur-covered feet. Their fluffy tails are even long enough to cover their faces in the extreme cold! Red pandas also experience a kind of winter torpor where their metabolism slows and they use their stored energy to regulate their body temperature.

You can symbolically adopt our red pandas right now with either the holiday adopt package or the classic adopt package! They’re discounted through the end of the year, and your purchase helps support zoo animal care.

Thanks to Keeper Alex for sharing a red panda meal!

potawatomizoo.org/support/animal-adoption

12/16/2025

We are so grateful to everyone who has donated to the Zoo this fall and winter. It's the time of the year we need you more than ever! Even though we're closed, we feed and water animals, heat barns, maintain staff, and continue running the Zoo.

If you haven't had a chance to include the Zoo in your end-of-year giving, we hope you'll consider a gift toward the Zoo's annual operating expenses before December 31. No matter the size, your gift makes a difference!

26294.blackbaudhosting.com/26294/Annual-Fund-2025

12/15/2025

Keeper Lauren captured this cute moment training with the Sichuan takin kids, Mei-Li and Jun, a few months ago. It may not look like they’re training, but giving the takin kids food in the training chute helps develop positive experiences at this young age, and leads to positive outcomes with training as they get older. The training chute is where the zoo keepers and animals interact and work on injection and exam training, as well as learning other husbandry behaviors.

12/13/2025

Ahhh it seems like just yesterday that it was hot enough for the otters to get fish on ice! But now every day is an ice day! North American river otters are adapted for life in the cold, and will even swim in frozen water thanks to an incredibly dense, double layer of fur that’s nearly waterproof.

Thanks to Keeper Chloe for sharing this enrichment video.

12/12/2025

We’re feeling festive and ready to sing holiday songs with the sand cats tonight at the Gift of Lights!

Did you know that there’s a storytime every half hour during the Gift of Lights? It’s right in front of the sand cats, and a fun way to warm up.

The Gift of Lights is every Friday-Sunday through December 28, starting at 5 pm. Information at potawatomizoo.org/lights.

12/11/2025

What is that spiky creature? It's a short-beaked echidna! One of the things that makes echidnas so interesting is that they’re a rare egg-laying mammal, but there are too many wild things about echidnas for one post! However, you can learn all about Teddy and his species at our echidna encounter! Since there are only about 20 echidnas at accredited zoos in this country, it's truly a unique experience!

There are just two more echidna encounters this year, December 20 and December 26, at 6 pm.

Sign up here: potawatomizoo.org/animal-encounters

12/09/2025

Nothing feels as safe as being tucked into mom's fur, at least not if you're a baby white-faced saki monkey.

At 7 weeks old, the baby may sometimes be seen with its sister (Panini) or father (Marcelo), it still prefers to ride around with its mother, Ella.

Address

500 S Greenlawn Avenue
South Bend, IN
46615

Opening Hours

Saturday	11am - 4pm
Sunday	11am - 4pm

Telephone

(574)2359800

Website

http://www.potawatomizoo.org/

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Our Story

The Potawatomi Zoo features more than 400 animals in South Bend, IN. With plenty of things to see and do, including educational classes, special events, and animal experiences, the Zoo has something for everyone. The Zoo is open for daily visits from 10 am to 5 pm during the open season, and 10 am to 8 pm June through August. Call 574-235-9800 or visit potawatomizoo.org for more details.