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Central Park Zoo
Animals in Winter: Indoors and Outdoors
(Central Park Zoo Website)
(Central Park Website)
A Photo Documentary
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
December 18, 2005
Any day of the year, any season, any Holiday, the Central Park Zoo is open for business. Seals, monkeys, swans, birds, tarantulas, penguins, and polar bears still eat, play, sleep, and exercise, and the zookeepers and educators are always on hand to make the visitor’s time at the zoo pleasant and informative. My guests today were from suburban Philadelphia, and we discovered that even on a chilly, but, thankfully, not stormy or windy day, the Central Park Zoo is manageable for a nice afternoon adventure. Prices are reasonable, walkways are spotless and smooth, the snack bar is actually a lovely little restaurant with great soups, sandwiches, and tiny snacks for tots, the park educators are constantly lecturing and taking questions, and the expansive Central Park, with carousel, balloons, boathouse-café, and picnic fields or benches is right through the walkways. The Central Park Zoo, unlike the very much larger Bronx Zoo, is one educational, leisure venue, where one gets to see everything and still have time for the colorful and user friendly gift shop.
My guests and I, including a two year-old, visited the Rainforest and small exhibits, including black-necked swans, polar bears, white fox, mouse deer, tarantula, a multitude of birds, monkeys, red panda, tortoise, sea lions, and more. Sea lions were being fed small fish, and one did tricks to hold the fish in his teeth or stand upright for food. Their barks were adorable. We then ventured to the Penguin environment, kept dark this time of year, to match Antarctica time zones, and saw 58 penguins through a water tank, above the water, eating fish, and below the water, diving and swimming. Another space in the same environment houses a multitude of puffins, one of my favorite birds (I had been on a puffin watch, once, in Maine, but saw them then through binoculars). At the Central Park Zoo, one sees puffins up close, with cute orange beaks in squat, black shapes.
When you go to the Central Park Zoo, try to bring a child or someone who is young at heart. Or, if you’re alone, this zoo is a good venue, as the animals are so nearby, engaging and mesmerizing. Plan to stop by the gift shop, with really unique gifts for all ages. All proceeds benefit the zoo.
Central Park Zoo Entrance
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Part Mouse, Part Deer
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Tortoise Swimming
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Exquisite Pink Bird
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Giant Reptile
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Blue Bird in the Rainforest
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Yellow Bird in the Rainforest
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Two Birds in the Rainforest
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Black-Necked Swan
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Two Black-Necked Swans
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Red Panda Sleeping
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Sea Otter Swimming
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Ducks Sunning
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Seals Sunning
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
White Fox Roaming
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Path to the Sea Lions
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Hungry Sea Lions
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Fish for Lunch
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Inside the Gift Shop
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Leaving the Gift Shop with Froggie Mittens
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Looking at Penguins through the Water Tank
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower and Steve Weinrebe
Looking at Penguins through the Glass above the Water Level
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower and Steve Weinrebe
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