New York trip planning help

[Mary]

If we're talking species that would be new from a European perspective, Bronx has by far the most and it isn't close. Then maybe Queens, then Central Park, then Prospect Park. Queens has a bunch of species either not at all present or very rare in Europe due to the focus on native species. CPZ has if I remember correctly quite a choice avian collection. Prospect Park has virtually nothing that wouldn't be considered common in Europe apart from the styani red pandas which can likely be seen elsewhere.

As for Turtle Back, the only species I can seem to find that qualify as at least somewhat rare in Europe would be Bobcat, American black bear and Hellbender. Not sure it's worth the hassle getting there.

In the US, at least in the northeast, it's not common at all to see many of the animals there, like tufted deer (which are at Bronx, but only seasonally and for short increments due to them being on the monorail ride), Pallas' cats, dingos, sand cats, or Hamadryas baboons. In fact, Prospect is the only zoo in the northeast with these animals, minus sand cats [Buffalo] and Pallas' cats [Utica Zoo], both of which are a haul from the mid-Atlantic region.

 

[15399]

In the US, at least in the northeast, it's not common at all to see many of the animals there, like tufted deer (which are at Bronx, but only seasonally and for short increments due to them being on the monorail ride), Pallas' cats, dingos, sand cats, or Hamadryas baboons. In fact, Prospect is the only zoo in the northeast with these animals, minus sand cats [Buffalo] and Pallas' cats [Utica Zoo], both of which are a haul from the mid-Atlantic region.

Well Tufted Deer are also at Buffalo, so if you are counting it in northeast for sand cats, it counts for Tufted Deer as well.

That being said, repeating the same four somewhat uncommon species doesn't prove anything. I could look to any of the other zoos and point to the same number or more species that are equally uncommon in zoos and/or are the only ones in the northeast. It's fine to be proud of your zoo, and I greatly enjoyed my visit to Prospect Park, however I don't think it's as superior to the other WCS zoos as you are trying to make it out to be.