This exhibit is actually almost as good as the pair of gorilla habitats! The entire Congo Gorilla Forest complex is well worth the extra $3 required of each visitor, and 100% of the cash raised goes towards conservation in central Africa.
You can certainly see the hog effect! I like the landscaping, and it's a nice mix of species. Not too sure about the entrance fee - great to see all that cash for conservation, but extra fees once you're inside the zoo always feel a bit cheeky. What is the entrance fee for the zoo as a whole?
Most U.S. zoos are quite cheap to visit, with two of the better ones being Woodland Park and Omaha. Woodland Park is $16.50 in summer and $11.50 in winter, while Omaha is about $11-12 year-round, and those are two of my 5 favourite zoos on the continent. The Bronx is $14 (approx.) for a visit, but the Congo Gorilla Forest complex is $3 extra. Don't forget that the zoo is famous for being FREE on every Wednesday.
Can't argue with the free Wednesdays - although I would guess that doesn't apply to CGF..? The trend in Britain is for there to be a stated 'donation' included in the entrance fee, which is technically optional but most people will pay as refusing to make a charitable donation is not something many can bring themselves to do! The charitable donation allows the zoo to claim back the VAT (sales tax) on the rest of the entrance fee if the person paying is a UK taxpayer. This is under the Government 'Gift Aid' scheme - one of the best things to come out of Goverment in years - it makes zoos a lot of extra cash.
The Bronx is $15. Total experience is $27, which includes CGF, Childrens Zoo, Bug Carousel, Butterfly house, and Wild Asia Monorail. Also note that parking is $12. And if you live outside the city, it will cost you about $8 to get in via bridge or tunnel. I live about 150 miles away, it cost me $38 in tolls to get there and back. So I won't be going to this great zoo often. The Zoo has suggested donations on Wednesdays, and I'm sure it very crowded on those days during the summer, I would probably avoid them.
Hmm... that's a lot of 'hidden extras'... Am I right in saying there are animals that can only be seen by riding the monorail? And obviously missing CGF, the Children's Zoo and the Butterfly House reduces the animals you'll see - what proportion of the zoo is actually covered by the entrance fee??
The Asian elephants, Indian Rhinos, Malayan Tiger, Gaur, Wild horses, and various other Asian hoofstock can only be seen on the monorail, which doesn't stop at all, rather disappoinint aspect of the zoo imo. Many people want to see elephants and rhinos(they have tigers elsewhere), for longer than 30-60 seconds, and have the ability to take good pictures which is hard to do while moving. A good deal of the zoo is covered by the entrance fee including Jungle World, Madagascar, African Plains, Baboon Reserve, World of Birds, some other bird sections, the monkey house, mouse house, bear exhibits, and Tiger Mountain among others.
That's insane. Elephants and rhinos are big crowd-pleasers. So you have to pay extra to see them at all and then are wheeled straight past them? Not good.
Yeah, this may be the biggest complaint regarding the zoo. The collection isn't as good as some other zoos, and you can't really give them full credit for the species they have on the Asia Monorail.
