Overview & visitor information
Bronx Zoo occupies 265 wooded acres around the Bronx River and is the flagship urban wildlife park of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Its extensive grounds combine landscaped paths, historic animal buildings and large habitat-based exhibits, creating a full-scale zoo rather than the single safari experience suggested by the former title.
Signature areas include Congo Gorilla Forest, Himalayan Highlands, Tiger Mountain, African Plains and the Madagascar exhibit. Wild Asia Monorail runs seasonally through habitats for Asian species, while the Children's Zoo introduces younger audiences to domestic animals and close-range nature experiences within a smaller section of the park.
The zoo opened in 1899 and has developed alongside the Wildlife Conservation Society's work in animal care, field science and species protection. Exhibits connect individual animals with the ecosystems they inhabit, so the family experience moves between recreation, natural history and an account of modern wildlife conservation.
