Central Park Zoo

This zoo may be small, but it’s absolutely worth a visit! Conveniently located in Central Park, it offers a charming and enjoyable experience for visitors of all ages. The variety of small animals and birds is delightful—you can watch them, listen to their calls, and even interact with some. One of the highlights is the sea lion feeding, which happens several times a day and is both entertaining and educational. The intimate size of the zoo makes it easy to navigate, allowing you to fully enjoy the exhibits without feeling rushed. A perfect stop for nature and animal lovers in the heart of the city!

I went on a Monday in January, it was nice & quiet, no lines or crowds. I saw the Penguins & Sea Lions being fed which was great fun. There's another section of the zoo that's a petting zoo with goats & other farmyard animals to feed. The only thing I didn't see were the snow leopards, they must've been asleep. I really enjoyed the 4D movie theater, don't miss it! I saw 3 things that I didn't like: one of the Grizzly bears was pacing up & down for a long time, whilst rescued as a cub because its mother was shot for being in a residential area, & definitely well cared for here, the bear obviously isn't that happy in captivity. I saw a sad penguin that looked like it wanted to leave too. And a couple of long tailed birds in a small enclosure that seemed frantic to get out, these are the things made me sad about zoos. Anyway the staff are superb & all the creatures are cared for 100% . I imagine it gets busy at peak times, so maybe better in the week. Watch out for the squirrels if you eat outside the cafe, they're fearless & relentless at trying to get to your food, they will get in your face & touch your stuff so beware.

a very creative place to put a zoo - shows you how big central park actually is. a lovely day out, especially if the weathers good and you have kids. the only down part is how small the enclosures are. for wild animals especially the snow leopard and bears, the enclosures are tiny in comparisons to what they require. the walk ways and parts made for the guests (where the benches are located etc.) are much larger than the animal enclosures which is a shame.

I haven't been here since I was a kid, and I will never come back again, even with my own kids. The state of this zoo was abhorrent. I don't care for zoos anyway because of how the animals are usually treated, and this zoo proved my point. Most of the other one-star reviews reflect all of the issues I had with it. It's a very small zoo. My friend and I covered the entire zoo and children's section in ~30 min. I'm sure with a kid, it would take longer, but there really wasn't anything to look at or interact with. And those poor animals, especially the bears. I literally felt sick after watching them and wanted to leave immediately because they were just pacing back and forth. It was depressing. Apparently, the mother of the bears in the exhibit was shot, and they became orphaned, which I can understand why they ended up in a zoo, but I think it's time to send them to a sanctuary so they can have more space and more stimulation. But besides that, the food is overpriced with limited options. And most exhibits I felt like you could go to a pet store and view the animals for free (reptile exhibit 😒). I wouldn't recommend coming here even if it's something you wanted to check off your to-do list. Smh

Edit from 3 years ago: Small but fun zoo to bring the kids while in Central Park. They have a petting zoo for the kids. We went for my oldest birthday and she had a blast. The food was also not bad.