What is going on, fellow Zoochatters? I am back with another review and species from my June 2024 New York trip, in which I set out to experience all 5 of the zoos and aquariums operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). I had previously covered the Central Park Zoo and New York Aquarium. This time, we are headed back to Long Island to tackle the 3rd of the 5 facilities.
The Prospect Park Zoo is located with the eponymous Prospect Park, a large urban park located withing Brooklyn. The park itself occupies about 12 acres of the 526 acre park. Other attractions at Prospect Park include walking trails, Brooklyn's only lake, recreation facilities, and various historic structures. The park itself, as well as the zoo, are also located near other attractions like the New York Botanical Garden and Grand Army Plaza.
When Prospect Park was first proposed in the 1860s, there were plans for a zoo within the park, although it was originally slated for a different location than where it stands today. The zoo as originally proposed was never built, but several zoological features were incorporated into the park, such as a waterfowl pond and a large pen for wild deer.
After that, interestingly enough, the Prospect Park Zoo's history kind of mirrors that of its Central Park brethren. A menagerie would eventually form on a hill just west of the zoo's current location. The menagerie was informally established in 1890 with the arrival of 3 bears. Like the Central Park Zoo, the menagerie mainly obtained animals from donations. The facility would continue to acquire animals and would eventually construct a building in 1916 to house monkeys and smaller animals.
The menagerie was rather haphazardly-built, and thus there were calls for a proper zoo. The Prospect Park Zoo would open in its current location in 1935, just a year after the opening of the Central Park Zoo. The original menagerie was demolished at this time as well. The new zoo featured a courtyard with buildings encircling a sea lion pool. Animals at the early Prospect Park Zoo included Elephants (whose indoor quarters were what is now the "Animal Lifestyles" building), lions, leopards, anteaters, bears, kangaroos, and others.
The zoo enjoyed high attendance and popularity in the early decades, although it was not without its problems, such as visitors throwing objects into the exhibits (resulting in animal deaths) or getting too close to the exhibits. Up until the 1980s, the zoo would continue to expand its collection, build new exhibits, and even expand the existing exhibits.
But the Prospect Park Zoo's fortunes would soon dry up. From the late 1960s up until the 1980s, the zoo would suffer from a downward spiral of neglect, animal abuse, vandalism, and deterioration, prompting protests and calls to close from animal rights activists (and also some employees). In 1980, an agreement was made to transfer administration of the zoo, along with the Central Park and Queens Zoos, to the New York Zoological Society (known today as the Wildlife Conservation Society).
The Prospect Park Zoo closed in 1988 and underwent a 5-year (originally planned as 2.5 year) renovation and reconstruction that saw most of the original zoo demolished (although some buildings were preserved). With the Central Park and Queens Zoos also under its belt, the WCS would distinguish the 3 zoos; the Queens Zoo focused on animals from the Americas, Central Park would focus conservation and biomes, and Prospect Park would function as a dedicated children's zoo. The zoo would reopen in its modern form in 1993.
The new zoo was a success, and continues to operate to this day, but even the 21st century was not without its own set of challenges. In the early 2000s, the zoo was threatened with closure due to budget cuts from the City of New York, but was ultimately spared (although the zoo had to lay off staff, discontinue programs, and raise admission prices as a result). In 2020, all of the WCS' facilities had to close indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although they were able to reopen in July of that year. In September 2023, the zoo was hit with severe flooding in which basements were inundated with up to 25 feet of water, forcing another indefinite closure. The zoo would reopen, after repairs and restoration work was completed, on May 26, 2024; just over 2 weeks prior to my visit (I will admit, I was not expecting to visit this zoo and I only found out it was open the week prior to my trip, when I was booking tickets).
Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to the Prospect Park Zoo and what it had to offer, but I do consider it to be the weakest of the 5 WCS facilities. The fact that it's primarily a children's zoo didn't really factor into this, as it felt more like a normal zoo to me for the most part. The reason I consider it the weakest is that the exhibits, collection, and features were not as eye-popping or as memorable as what the other facilities under the WCS had on offer. While the exhibits were, for the most part, well-done, they just don't really compare to what I've seen at Central Park, Queens, or most certainly Bronx. The collection does have the occasional oddity or rarity here and there, but nothing in particular stood out. The WCS brings a certain flair and quality to all of its facilities, which I feel was at its weakest in Prospect Park. There wasn't really a wow factor here like what I got at the other facilities.
This place is also where the WCS' system-wide "No Re-Entry" policy really rears its ugly head. This wasn't an issue for Bronx or New York Aquarium, but it is a problem for the Prospect Park Zoo as their on-site dining option (that's a singular) is quite bad, with their food offerings being barely above gas-station food in quality. This wouldn't be an issue if you could just leave the park, grab a proper lunch somewhere, and then return, but the WCS does not allow re-entry to any of their facilities. I understand that the Prospect Park Zoo isn't really an all-day facility (fun fact; I did not actually spend the whole day here, but I was there from rope-drop to 3:30pm), but these kinds of things really hurt the ability to be flexible with your plans.
That being said, Prospect Park is still a very solid zoo that does have some surprises in its small footprint. The indoor areas have a good mix of species and some highly unusual animals I haven't seen elsewhere. The outdoor areas may not be as memorable species-wise, but the landscaping and scenery was very well-done, and I especially liked how most of the Discovery Trail is natural substrate.
In the next post, I will start my review of the different exhibits at the zoo as well as provide my own species list. I will split the review between the indoor areas first (Animal Lifestyles and Hall of Animals) and the outdoor areas (Discovery Trail and Barnyard).
As always, I have also compiled a species list on iNaturalist from my visit, which you can view here -> [VISIT] Prospect Park Zoo Species List - 2024/06/12. Please note that common names may differ from what is signed at the zoo, and the zoo may also use synonyms for some of its animals (I will note any differences that are significant).
Also, one small things to note with my species list is that @thejbird posted a (slightly) more recent species list from a month after my visit that you can view here -> Prospect Park Zoo Species List 7/18/2024 [Prospect Park Zoo]. So my list might be slightly outdated. From what I gleaned, our lists appear to more-or-less align, but I did notice a species here and there that I did not observe or see signed on my visit (such as Emerald Tree Boa). It's entirely possible that the collection was still in a state of flux due to just coming out of an extended closure from the aforementioned flooding. Also, I do not include behind-the-scenes-only animals on my lists.
To Be Continued...
Astrom3000's Big Apple Adventure
Part 3 - The Prospect of a Good Time
In this thread, I will be reviewing the Prospect Park Zoo, a small zoo located in the heart of Brooklyn. I chose this zoo as the 3rd WCS facility I would visit on my trip. My review and species is based on my visit on 06/12/2024. There will be one caveat regarding my species list that I will mention later.Part 3 - The Prospect of a Good Time
The Prospect Park Zoo is located with the eponymous Prospect Park, a large urban park located withing Brooklyn. The park itself occupies about 12 acres of the 526 acre park. Other attractions at Prospect Park include walking trails, Brooklyn's only lake, recreation facilities, and various historic structures. The park itself, as well as the zoo, are also located near other attractions like the New York Botanical Garden and Grand Army Plaza.
When Prospect Park was first proposed in the 1860s, there were plans for a zoo within the park, although it was originally slated for a different location than where it stands today. The zoo as originally proposed was never built, but several zoological features were incorporated into the park, such as a waterfowl pond and a large pen for wild deer.
After that, interestingly enough, the Prospect Park Zoo's history kind of mirrors that of its Central Park brethren. A menagerie would eventually form on a hill just west of the zoo's current location. The menagerie was informally established in 1890 with the arrival of 3 bears. Like the Central Park Zoo, the menagerie mainly obtained animals from donations. The facility would continue to acquire animals and would eventually construct a building in 1916 to house monkeys and smaller animals.
The menagerie was rather haphazardly-built, and thus there were calls for a proper zoo. The Prospect Park Zoo would open in its current location in 1935, just a year after the opening of the Central Park Zoo. The original menagerie was demolished at this time as well. The new zoo featured a courtyard with buildings encircling a sea lion pool. Animals at the early Prospect Park Zoo included Elephants (whose indoor quarters were what is now the "Animal Lifestyles" building), lions, leopards, anteaters, bears, kangaroos, and others.
The zoo enjoyed high attendance and popularity in the early decades, although it was not without its problems, such as visitors throwing objects into the exhibits (resulting in animal deaths) or getting too close to the exhibits. Up until the 1980s, the zoo would continue to expand its collection, build new exhibits, and even expand the existing exhibits.
But the Prospect Park Zoo's fortunes would soon dry up. From the late 1960s up until the 1980s, the zoo would suffer from a downward spiral of neglect, animal abuse, vandalism, and deterioration, prompting protests and calls to close from animal rights activists (and also some employees). In 1980, an agreement was made to transfer administration of the zoo, along with the Central Park and Queens Zoos, to the New York Zoological Society (known today as the Wildlife Conservation Society).
The Prospect Park Zoo closed in 1988 and underwent a 5-year (originally planned as 2.5 year) renovation and reconstruction that saw most of the original zoo demolished (although some buildings were preserved). With the Central Park and Queens Zoos also under its belt, the WCS would distinguish the 3 zoos; the Queens Zoo focused on animals from the Americas, Central Park would focus conservation and biomes, and Prospect Park would function as a dedicated children's zoo. The zoo would reopen in its modern form in 1993.
The new zoo was a success, and continues to operate to this day, but even the 21st century was not without its own set of challenges. In the early 2000s, the zoo was threatened with closure due to budget cuts from the City of New York, but was ultimately spared (although the zoo had to lay off staff, discontinue programs, and raise admission prices as a result). In 2020, all of the WCS' facilities had to close indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although they were able to reopen in July of that year. In September 2023, the zoo was hit with severe flooding in which basements were inundated with up to 25 feet of water, forcing another indefinite closure. The zoo would reopen, after repairs and restoration work was completed, on May 26, 2024; just over 2 weeks prior to my visit (I will admit, I was not expecting to visit this zoo and I only found out it was open the week prior to my trip, when I was booking tickets).
Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to the Prospect Park Zoo and what it had to offer, but I do consider it to be the weakest of the 5 WCS facilities. The fact that it's primarily a children's zoo didn't really factor into this, as it felt more like a normal zoo to me for the most part. The reason I consider it the weakest is that the exhibits, collection, and features were not as eye-popping or as memorable as what the other facilities under the WCS had on offer. While the exhibits were, for the most part, well-done, they just don't really compare to what I've seen at Central Park, Queens, or most certainly Bronx. The collection does have the occasional oddity or rarity here and there, but nothing in particular stood out. The WCS brings a certain flair and quality to all of its facilities, which I feel was at its weakest in Prospect Park. There wasn't really a wow factor here like what I got at the other facilities.
This place is also where the WCS' system-wide "No Re-Entry" policy really rears its ugly head. This wasn't an issue for Bronx or New York Aquarium, but it is a problem for the Prospect Park Zoo as their on-site dining option (that's a singular) is quite bad, with their food offerings being barely above gas-station food in quality. This wouldn't be an issue if you could just leave the park, grab a proper lunch somewhere, and then return, but the WCS does not allow re-entry to any of their facilities. I understand that the Prospect Park Zoo isn't really an all-day facility (fun fact; I did not actually spend the whole day here, but I was there from rope-drop to 3:30pm), but these kinds of things really hurt the ability to be flexible with your plans.
That being said, Prospect Park is still a very solid zoo that does have some surprises in its small footprint. The indoor areas have a good mix of species and some highly unusual animals I haven't seen elsewhere. The outdoor areas may not be as memorable species-wise, but the landscaping and scenery was very well-done, and I especially liked how most of the Discovery Trail is natural substrate.
In the next post, I will start my review of the different exhibits at the zoo as well as provide my own species list. I will split the review between the indoor areas first (Animal Lifestyles and Hall of Animals) and the outdoor areas (Discovery Trail and Barnyard).
As always, I have also compiled a species list on iNaturalist from my visit, which you can view here -> [VISIT] Prospect Park Zoo Species List - 2024/06/12. Please note that common names may differ from what is signed at the zoo, and the zoo may also use synonyms for some of its animals (I will note any differences that are significant).
Also, one small things to note with my species list is that @thejbird posted a (slightly) more recent species list from a month after my visit that you can view here -> Prospect Park Zoo Species List 7/18/2024 [Prospect Park Zoo]. So my list might be slightly outdated. From what I gleaned, our lists appear to more-or-less align, but I did notice a species here and there that I did not observe or see signed on my visit (such as Emerald Tree Boa). It's entirely possible that the collection was still in a state of flux due to just coming out of an extended closure from the aforementioned flooding. Also, I do not include behind-the-scenes-only animals on my lists.
To Be Continued...
