Central Park Zoo

The Zoo wasn’t considered by Olmsted and Vaux and was preceded by a menagerie near the Arsenal. The menagerie was founded in 1864 and is considered the first public zoo in New York City. It evolved into a zoo with animals given (or just abandoned) in the park. The zoo that we know and love today was opened on December 2, 1934.

The Zoo is a year-round attraction and has animals from different climate areas, recreating successfully their natural habitats. The Zoo fields a sea lion pool in its center, that has an underwater area offer a peek to their underwater shenanigans.

There is a cool feature on the brick arch between Central Park Zoo and Tisch Children’s Zoo – the “George Delacorte Musical Clock”. Every day you can see a band of animals coming out a half an hour and an hour. The band is composed of a bear with a tambourine, a hippo with a violin, monkeys with bells and hammers, a penguin with a drum, a goat with pipes, and a kangaroo with a horn.

The daily feeding of the animals is one of the most popular attractions. You can check the schedule of the zoo to acquire additional information about it.

The zoo is also a filming site of popular movies like Madagascar and Mr. Popper’s Penguins.