Hell fellow Zoochatters! I am back with another zoo review and species list. In this review, I pick up where my previous review left off and continue looking into the various zoos I visited on my New York trip back in June 2024. I know this is starting to run very late; I intended to have this review out over a week ago, but I ended being busier during the holidays than anticipated, and I also came down with a mild cold/flu/something (which, ironically, also happened right after this trip).
The Queens Zoo is located within the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, a large public park in Queens, NY that was originally created for the 1939 New York World's Fair and would later also host the 1964 New York World's Fair. Just prior to the 1964 fair, plans have already been drawn up for the establishment of a zoo within the park. Various sites within the park were considered for the zoo, including one next to the Queens Botanical Garden, but was ultimately established on the site it sits on now, adjacent to the Grand Central Parkway and on the site of the World Fair's transportation pavilion. The zoo would break ground in 1966. One notable feature of the zoo is the aviary, which was converted from a geodesic dome originally built for the Worlds Fair.
The facility opened as the Flushing Meadows Zoo in 1968, which also included the Heckscher Children's Farm. This makes the Queens Zoo the youngest facility under the WCS umbrella. The zoo charged no admission initially for either the zoo itself or the children's farm, although there was a carousel and pony rides that charged a fee.
Unfortunately, the zoo started running into issues, not unlike those experienced by its siblings in the NYC area, soon after opening, and the 1970s wouldn't be so kind to the zoo. Visitors abused the birds in the aviary, cut fences, and even stole animals from the farm. The zoo also experienced frequent blackouts due to its electrical ducts running through marshland. The aviary itself also suffered from infrastructure issues, including collapsing pathways, and would suffer frequent and protracted closures during the 1970s. The 1970s in general would be defined by maintenance, staffing, and funding issues, which resulted in the zoo having to close for periods at a time and planned renovations and additions falling to the wayside.
In the early 1980s, the city government transferred control of the Flushing Meadows Zoo, along with the Central Park and Prospect Park Zoos, to the New York Zoological Society (known today as the Wildlife Conservation Society. The zoo closed in 1988 to undergo a massive renovation that saw most of the older structures razed.
The zoo reopened in 1992, and briefly adopted its current name, Queens Zoo, but was rebranded shortly after as the Queens Wildlife Center. The zoo initially focused on North American Wildlife, but by the late 2000s, the zoo began to incorporate South American species, which would establish the Queens Zoo as a zoo focused on species from the Americas (whereas Central Park focused on biomes and Prospect Park focused on being a childrens zoo). The zoo was renamed back to the Queens Zoo in the early 2000s.
Unlike its siblings, the Queens Zoo did not see much success following its reopening; the zoo struggled to attract visitors, mainly because they preferred to visit the more popular Bronx and Central Park Zoos. Additionally, the zoo would continue to suffer occasional bouts of under funding, especially in the early 2000s when the city of New York cut funding to the zoos, but eventually restored some funding (although the zoo still had to lay off staff and increase admission fees). Unironically enough, the zoo recorded increasing attendance following the September 11 attacks, mainly due to heavily decreased travel and people no longer traveling far.
Today, the zoo sits on 11 acres and is home to just over 60 species of wildlife from the Americas, making it the smallest collection under the WCS umbrella. While the zoo continues to operate, it perhaps isn't thriving quite as much as its siblings (the zoo had planned to build a Jaguar exhibit from as far back as 2002, but has still yet to do so due to funding). Nevertheless, the zoo did weather the COVID-19 closures that caused all of the WCS facilities to temporarily shutter their doors. The zoo reopened in July 2020, and required advanced ticket reservations (which it still does to this day).
The zoo consists of a simple loop that passes by all of the exhibits. The most notable feature of the zoo is the aviary, which consists of a large netted dome with landscaping and an elevated path that goes up into the canopy and features over 30 species of free-flying birds. Other features include a marsh boardwalk and a plaza adjoining a Sea Lion exhibit. Queens Zoo also features a children's farm, home to a variety of domesticated species. Like the Central Park Zoo, the farm is located behind a separate gate (requiring you to leave the main zoo to visit it and no, this zoo also does not allow re-entry). Unlike Central Park, however; the farm contains no wild animals.
In spite of this zoo's troubled history, I still found it to be a very well-kept and beautiful zoo that still managed to impress and surprise me in spite of its smaller collection (this is the 10th smallest collection out of 47 facilities I have done internal species lists for). The exhibits were, for the most part, very spacious, naturalist, and well landscaped. The aviary in particular was an amazing experience and ranks highly among free-flight aviaries that I have done, mainly thanks to its design and plentiful viewing angles. I actually spent more time here than I thought I would, and overall, I consider Queens Zoo to be something of a hidden gem among urban zoos.
In the next post, we will start walking through the various exhibits and I will provide my thoughts as well as a species list for each section, as I normally do. This will take up maybe two posts max, as the zoo features a relatively small collection and a fairly streamlined layout. Also, while the zoo doesn't official divide the main loop into sections, the exhibits along the main loop can be cleanly broken up into different thematically-congruent sections.
To Be Continued...
Astrom3000's Big Apple Adventure
Part 4 - The King of Queens
In this thread, I will be reviewing the Queens Zoo, located within the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, NY. This is the 4th WCS zoological facility that I visited that week; with my visit being on 06/13/2024. Part 4 - The King of Queens
The Queens Zoo is located within the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, a large public park in Queens, NY that was originally created for the 1939 New York World's Fair and would later also host the 1964 New York World's Fair. Just prior to the 1964 fair, plans have already been drawn up for the establishment of a zoo within the park. Various sites within the park were considered for the zoo, including one next to the Queens Botanical Garden, but was ultimately established on the site it sits on now, adjacent to the Grand Central Parkway and on the site of the World Fair's transportation pavilion. The zoo would break ground in 1966. One notable feature of the zoo is the aviary, which was converted from a geodesic dome originally built for the Worlds Fair.
The facility opened as the Flushing Meadows Zoo in 1968, which also included the Heckscher Children's Farm. This makes the Queens Zoo the youngest facility under the WCS umbrella. The zoo charged no admission initially for either the zoo itself or the children's farm, although there was a carousel and pony rides that charged a fee.
Unfortunately, the zoo started running into issues, not unlike those experienced by its siblings in the NYC area, soon after opening, and the 1970s wouldn't be so kind to the zoo. Visitors abused the birds in the aviary, cut fences, and even stole animals from the farm. The zoo also experienced frequent blackouts due to its electrical ducts running through marshland. The aviary itself also suffered from infrastructure issues, including collapsing pathways, and would suffer frequent and protracted closures during the 1970s. The 1970s in general would be defined by maintenance, staffing, and funding issues, which resulted in the zoo having to close for periods at a time and planned renovations and additions falling to the wayside.
In the early 1980s, the city government transferred control of the Flushing Meadows Zoo, along with the Central Park and Prospect Park Zoos, to the New York Zoological Society (known today as the Wildlife Conservation Society. The zoo closed in 1988 to undergo a massive renovation that saw most of the older structures razed.
The zoo reopened in 1992, and briefly adopted its current name, Queens Zoo, but was rebranded shortly after as the Queens Wildlife Center. The zoo initially focused on North American Wildlife, but by the late 2000s, the zoo began to incorporate South American species, which would establish the Queens Zoo as a zoo focused on species from the Americas (whereas Central Park focused on biomes and Prospect Park focused on being a childrens zoo). The zoo was renamed back to the Queens Zoo in the early 2000s.
Unlike its siblings, the Queens Zoo did not see much success following its reopening; the zoo struggled to attract visitors, mainly because they preferred to visit the more popular Bronx and Central Park Zoos. Additionally, the zoo would continue to suffer occasional bouts of under funding, especially in the early 2000s when the city of New York cut funding to the zoos, but eventually restored some funding (although the zoo still had to lay off staff and increase admission fees). Unironically enough, the zoo recorded increasing attendance following the September 11 attacks, mainly due to heavily decreased travel and people no longer traveling far.
Today, the zoo sits on 11 acres and is home to just over 60 species of wildlife from the Americas, making it the smallest collection under the WCS umbrella. While the zoo continues to operate, it perhaps isn't thriving quite as much as its siblings (the zoo had planned to build a Jaguar exhibit from as far back as 2002, but has still yet to do so due to funding). Nevertheless, the zoo did weather the COVID-19 closures that caused all of the WCS facilities to temporarily shutter their doors. The zoo reopened in July 2020, and required advanced ticket reservations (which it still does to this day).
The zoo consists of a simple loop that passes by all of the exhibits. The most notable feature of the zoo is the aviary, which consists of a large netted dome with landscaping and an elevated path that goes up into the canopy and features over 30 species of free-flying birds. Other features include a marsh boardwalk and a plaza adjoining a Sea Lion exhibit. Queens Zoo also features a children's farm, home to a variety of domesticated species. Like the Central Park Zoo, the farm is located behind a separate gate (requiring you to leave the main zoo to visit it and no, this zoo also does not allow re-entry). Unlike Central Park, however; the farm contains no wild animals.
In spite of this zoo's troubled history, I still found it to be a very well-kept and beautiful zoo that still managed to impress and surprise me in spite of its smaller collection (this is the 10th smallest collection out of 47 facilities I have done internal species lists for). The exhibits were, for the most part, very spacious, naturalist, and well landscaped. The aviary in particular was an amazing experience and ranks highly among free-flight aviaries that I have done, mainly thanks to its design and plentiful viewing angles. I actually spent more time here than I thought I would, and overall, I consider Queens Zoo to be something of a hidden gem among urban zoos.
In the next post, we will start walking through the various exhibits and I will provide my thoughts as well as a species list for each section, as I normally do. This will take up maybe two posts max, as the zoo features a relatively small collection and a fairly streamlined layout. Also, while the zoo doesn't official divide the main loop into sections, the exhibits along the main loop can be cleanly broken up into different thematically-congruent sections.
To Be Continued...
; I'd rank it just above Bronx for one reason I will get to when we get there), especially after the Northeast has provided several bison habitats that were underwhelming (Turtle Back, Elmwood Park), or just downright bad (Smithsonian, although thankfully that one is no longer in use). This habitat is spacious, lush, and once again, the zoo does a great job managing sight lines and hiding barriers (mostly).
