I visited Central Park Zoo in 2008 and then not again until August 15th, 2025, a duration of 17 years. Gone were the Polar Bears, replaced by Brown Bears, and there has been the addition of Snow Leopards, but in truth the zoo hasn't changed much in 30+ years!
The California Sea Lion exhibit has two animals, with all the sea lion pools at the Wildlife Conservation Society having very few individuals these days. There's also a separate farmyard zone, just like at Queens and Prospect Park, and it's a standard area that also includes an aviary.
That leaves a trio of distinct zones at Central Park Zoo. The Tropic Zone is quite good, still holding up after all these years. There are approximately 30 bird species inside, plus it was neat to see a couple of bats hanging from the rafters, and there's also mongooses, piranhas, some small primates and herps and it's all fairly decent. Seeing the Collared Brown Lemurs and Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs in exhibits that are slightly hit-and-miss didn't darken my overall feeling of the building.
Penguins & Seabirds is an all-indoor affair with the penguins being represented by King, Gentoo, Chinstrap and Macaroni species. The condensation levels are crazy in there, which makes viewing difficult, but it's an okay exhibit. The Atlantic and Tufted Puffins have a much smaller space and there's not many of them, so that enclosure isn't as impressive. This whole area used to be called the Polar Zone, although that name is not on the zoo's map these days. Harbour Seals have a nicely landscape exhibit and my wife and I saw some very active Grizzly Bears, which were traversing their rocky enclosure with gusto.
The last section is Temperate Territory, with an excellent Snow Leopard exhibit that has two enclosures and is highly reminiscent of the trio of exhibits at the Bronx Zoo. White-naped Cranes, Red Pandas, some turtles and waterfowl, plus Japanese Macaques rounds out this area. Back in 2008, the macaques were arguably the highlight of the entire zoo as I can recall spending a long time watching the big family group, but this time around I saw only 3 adult monkeys and there was only a glimpse here and there as they huddled in the shade.
Central Park Zoo is clearly better than either Queens Zoo (only 15 exhibits) and Prospect Park Zoo (a bit of a thematic mess) and that's reflected in the admission as Central Park is basically double the cost of the other two zoos. It was fun to be back in the Big Apple, and these zoos are like little garden oases surrounded by skyscrapers and millions of people.
The California Sea Lion exhibit has two animals, with all the sea lion pools at the Wildlife Conservation Society having very few individuals these days. There's also a separate farmyard zone, just like at Queens and Prospect Park, and it's a standard area that also includes an aviary.
That leaves a trio of distinct zones at Central Park Zoo. The Tropic Zone is quite good, still holding up after all these years. There are approximately 30 bird species inside, plus it was neat to see a couple of bats hanging from the rafters, and there's also mongooses, piranhas, some small primates and herps and it's all fairly decent. Seeing the Collared Brown Lemurs and Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs in exhibits that are slightly hit-and-miss didn't darken my overall feeling of the building.
Penguins & Seabirds is an all-indoor affair with the penguins being represented by King, Gentoo, Chinstrap and Macaroni species. The condensation levels are crazy in there, which makes viewing difficult, but it's an okay exhibit. The Atlantic and Tufted Puffins have a much smaller space and there's not many of them, so that enclosure isn't as impressive. This whole area used to be called the Polar Zone, although that name is not on the zoo's map these days. Harbour Seals have a nicely landscape exhibit and my wife and I saw some very active Grizzly Bears, which were traversing their rocky enclosure with gusto.
The last section is Temperate Territory, with an excellent Snow Leopard exhibit that has two enclosures and is highly reminiscent of the trio of exhibits at the Bronx Zoo. White-naped Cranes, Red Pandas, some turtles and waterfowl, plus Japanese Macaques rounds out this area. Back in 2008, the macaques were arguably the highlight of the entire zoo as I can recall spending a long time watching the big family group, but this time around I saw only 3 adult monkeys and there was only a glimpse here and there as they huddled in the shade.
Central Park Zoo is clearly better than either Queens Zoo (only 15 exhibits) and Prospect Park Zoo (a bit of a thematic mess) and that's reflected in the admission as Central Park is basically double the cost of the other two zoos. It was fun to be back in the Big Apple, and these zoos are like little garden oases surrounded by skyscrapers and millions of people.
