Central Park Zoo: Little Zoo, Big Fun

By now you’re all pretty familiar with my love of Central Park.  It really is a happy medium for city-loving tree-huggers like me.  Just the other day, a friend and I decided to take our little ones to the Central Park Zoo and had a truly wonderful time.  You would be surprised at all there is to experience in such a small zoo.  Here were some of our favorite experiences:

The Sea Lion Pool:  Those Sea Lions are some serious Show-offs!  Not only do they enjoy doing their tricks during feeding time with their trainers (which happens at 11:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.), but even when the show is over you can catch them hamming it up for onlookers.  At one point, one of the Sea Lions came up through the water, basked against the rocks, and stared at us with a very knowing look, ”You love me; you know you do.”

The Rainforest: My son clamored to see the snakes from the moment we entered the zoo (boy-oh-boy will he be disappointed if he thinks that he will ever get one as a pet), and the Rainforest exhibit had plenty of snakes for the viewing.  Large ones, small ones, even a pretty pink one with delicate gray streaks, all behind double-reinforced glass (thank you very much).  There were also Piranhas and other Rainforest creatures to enjoy seeing as well at that exhibit.

The Polar Circle:  On a hot day, the Polar Circle is the place to be.  Seeing the giant Polar Bears is exciting; then you get to go inside the chilly Penguin and Puffin exhibit, which will surely be a refreshing moment after having the hot sun beat down on you.  The great thing about the Penguins is that they are super friendly, and will swim right up to you on the other side of the glass to say hello!  I personally delighted in putting my nose against the glass and having Penguin after Penguin come over and rub their beak on the other side of the glass.  So amazing!

Besides these great favorites of ours, there are Monkeys and Red Pandas to be seen, Snow Leopards, many different kinds of birds, and the very best part, the Tisch Children’s Zoo.  There is no way you could have gotten me to feed a Llama as a kid, but my brave little two and a half year old fed the Llama, some goats, and some sheep.  After seeing him do it, I felt deeply ashamed of myself and mustered up the courage to feed them myself.  The animals are so very gentle!  They use their tiny little lips to pull in the food, never once using their teeth to get the food from people’s hands.  It was truly a wonderful experience.

All in all, the Central Park Zoo is a great way to spend a few hours with the family.  You’ll be amazed at all you can experience in such a small zoo, and the memories will last for a long, long time.

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