After being in Washington DC for the weekend, I headed up for a few days in New York City and of course had to take a trip out to the Bronx Zoo! The Bronx Zoo is one of the largest in the US and certainly must be amongst the oldest zoos in the US being opened in 1899, and is home to over 600 species. My visit to the zoo easily filled the whole day – I arrived shortly before opening and there were already others also waiting when I got there. The zoo is pretty easy to get to, I took the subway and then walked approximately 10minutes from the stop (E 180 Street) – the zoo is huge so I sure got a lot of steps that day!
I’m so glad I got to the zoo for opening time, not only because the zoo is huge and needs the whole time, but it meant I could walk around many areas and be almost the only person there. I visited on a weekday, and although I didn’t see any school trips, it was still relatively busy in some areas from later in the morning onwards. The zoo is split into several different areas, typically with themes of the different animals you can see there – I visited the whole zoo and I think I saw almost everything there was to see, with the exception of the Dinosaur Safari as I’ve seen enough dinosaur exhibits in zoos. There is a tram that can take you around the different areas, I didn’t make use of it, but it was a popular option as I always saw a line at the stations – if you have limited time, this would definitely be handy. There were several food and drink options, I had a standard zoo lunch of fries at the Asia Plaza area then later got an ice cream from a stand near the Dancing Crane Cafe, prices were pretty standard for zoos but the ice cream portion was generous, which was much needed on a warm day! There were also 2 shops at the Zoo, one at the Asia Plaza and one at the main Plaza, the merchandise was pretty standard zoo stuff, I had limited luggage space and didn’t really see anything I needed to get, but they had plenty of themed t-shirt and hoodies, and of course soft toys. The sticker selection was a little limited for me, and I didn’t find any postcards to buy.
Overall, I had a great day and saw a fantastic range of animals, I’d definitely come back again and would also recommend a visit if you’re in the area.
Jungle World
Jungle World is one of the first areas you get to from the Asia Gate which is closest to the subway station. Because this is indoor, I opted to head here in the middle of the day when it was warmer outside. Jungle World was definitely one of my favourite areas of the zoo, the theming and design was impressive and immersive, and there were some great animals to see. I was delighted to see the tree kangaroos, such beautiful animals, I love their fur colour and these guys were super cute sitting together. Their tails have an impressive length and their paws looked super cute with how the one was sitting on the log^ The otters also had an impressive home with a wetlands vibe. But the langurs with their waterfall was definitely a stand out, it looked great and provided great views for the troop. I’m not the biggest reptile/crocodile fan, but I did like the gharials home in this area, aesthetically it was very nice.
Wild Asia Monorail
Next to Jungle World is the Wild Asia Monorail, which is an inner-face monorail ride around an Asian themed area of the zoo – you can’t see any of these spaces by foot, you have to go on the monorail. The line could get quite long, I went around standard lunchtime, so I think I got lucky with a shorter queue, but it built up quickly behind me. I really wanted to like this way of seeing the animals, but for me it just didn’t tick the box really. The yards and area wasn’t particularly themed and while I appreciate the animals can choose what area of their habitat they are in, it was tricky to get a good view of many of the animals. This was the only place you could see the red panda, and it’s not really a good way for having red panda viewing, I would have preferred to stop and take my time watching. However it was good for the larger species, the elephants and rhino, I particularly liked seeing the rhino enjoying a bath!
The monorail is only open from May-October, so definitely consider this in visit planning.
Africa Trail
The African Trail was the first area that I went to – it’s large and has plenty of animals to see. What was really nice was the eyelines in the plains area, so at first glance it really looked like the nyala and the lions were sharing a space! A very nice deception and I could only spot the split when I was quite close to the lions, which makes for a very nice impact. The spaces for both were very nice. I also liked the Baboon Reserve area, although I didn’t see a lot of the baboons themselves, but did see their yard-mates, the rock hyrax which I just think are super cute, and the ibex. Giraffes are always a favourite to see, these guys spent their time mostly at the back of their yard, so I didn’t get to see them close up. There is also an inside area in the giraffe building, but they spent all their time outside on my visit. Inside you can also see some other animals, I especially was excited to see the aardvark, I think this was my first time seeing one! Didn’t get any photos as they are a nocturnal species so were living in a completely darkened area, but I still could see one running around the space, it was much larger than I was expecting. There was also a very impressive large bird living here, annoyingly I didn’t take a picture of the sign but a reverse image search tells me it’s a Von der Decken’s Hornbill – the colours on the bill are beautiful. I tried several times to see the hyena, but had no luck, and end the end of the day got lucky in seeing the African wild dogs, these guys were elusive the rest of the day as well.
Congo Gorilla Forest
The Congo Gorilla Forest was another impressively themed area – and has many more animals than just gorillas, which was lucky because I didn’t see a whole lot of the gorillas! The whole space was great, I couldn’t pick out a favourite, but the okapi area was very nice, I did see some but the pictures didn’t come out very well. The education on conservation in this area was also very good. The viewing area around the Great Ape Gallery was fantastic, it just happened that when I was there the gorillas were far away/sleeping – but you win some you lose some. The walkthrough corridor was great, and I can see it being a great opportunity for viewing.
This section is also only open from March-December.
Astor Court ~ Madagascar + Aquatic Birds
The Astor Court area has beautiful classic architecture, I really loved the design here for less modern zoo buildings, and it was definitely a quieter area, so I enjoyed hanging out here in the afternoon. This area groups together several themed buildings and animal habitats. Here there were also Komodo dragons (not a favourite, I just find them a bit creepy!), the beautiful round sea lion pool and the rhinos, which I didn’t get a great look at, one was outside but in a spot that was tricky to see from the viewing paths.
From here you can lead into the Madagascar buidling which of course has a huge lemur focus. Here I loved seeing the Sifaka’s, which I think might have been the first time I’ve seen them, and I really do love red ruffed lemurs, such beautiful coloured fur and cute faces.
And then there is also the Aquatic Bird House – to my dismay this led into a walkthrough aviary, which is my fear because there are many birds which can poop on you XD So I walked through that part quickly, but enjoyed the indoor area, mostly because I love the Little penguins, these guys are too cute^ And even though the scarlet ibis’ could have come out onto the path, they didn’t and I did like seeing them resting high in their trees. There were plenty of other unique birds here as well, reverse image search tells me I also saw fruit doves, these guys were cute little fluffy things. The thing I’m most happy about is one of the flamingo photos I took in this area! The indoor area of this house was definitely a surprise favourite area of the whole zoo.
World of Birds
The World of Birds ended up being a favourite of the day – this is a huge house with so many species to see, it was a great range of birds which I’m sure I’ve never seen before and I ended up with many great photos from here. It was also very quiet in here, which definitely made the viewing experience better. The theming of the different areas was also very nice, overall a great experience. Having been to several ‘World of Birds‘ houses like this, while I really like the one at Zoo Berlin and I think it might have a wider range of species, I think the theming and viewing experience is better here. The hornbills were a firm favourite, along with what I think was the bearded barbet (with the red chest feathers) and the white and blue Bali starling, which was just so beautiful.
Himalayan Highlands
I’m so glad I stopped by the Himalayan Highlands area twice because I saw the snow leopard up and about! The viewing here was really nice with different area options, there was indoor cave viewing, rocky hillside viewing and n open wooded area. On my first visit the snow leopard was rest against the glass at the cave which was amazing to see it so close up. Luckily when I went back in the afternoon it was up an about, wandering through the trees – even though all the viewing was still glass I got a very clear view, and was the only person there at the time so even more special.
