Central Park Zoo Central Park Zoo Walkthrough

Well I guess it's now or never. I am going to be doing a walk-through! Thank you to Thylacinealive and Tealovingdave who gave me the idea. So as in thylos bronx walkthrough we will start with basic info.

Basic Info
The zoo is open November 3 to April 3 from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm with 4:00 pm being the last entry time. From April 4 to November 2 it's open from 10 am to 5 pm. That should give you enough time even for a zoochatter to visit this 6.5 acre zoo. The zoo is open for all days of the year unless an emergency happens such as a hurricane. Address is on 54th street and 5th avenue. The general admission is 12 for adults, 7 for children, and 9 for seniors(65+) They also have a 4D theater which costs 7 dollars for 3+ and 4 for WCS members. The general admission also includes the Tisch Family Petting Zoo. A helpful hint, don't go asking keepers where the hippos, zebras, lions, and giraffes are as the zoo hasn't had those animals for decades! For more info visit their website. http://centralparkzoo.com/

Walthrough
Once you enter through the main entrance you go straight down a nice path with two or three souvenir booths to your right. Make an immediate right after you come to a small path to the center of the zoo which features 4 California Sea Lions in a circular tank with a large rock "island" in the middle with smaller ones throughout. This species has been around since the Central Park Zoo was known as the Central Park Menagerie! The info on the plaques teach you about the differences between seals, sea lions, and walruses. There are fantastic feeding shows at 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, and at 3:30 pm. It definitely is one of the better shows I have been to.
Now you would back track to that earlier path with brick columns and an education center surrounding it. Keep going up the path, and you will see entrance to the Tropic zone exhibit. But before you enter I would take a moment to keep going that path a little farther to the right where you will see two male White Faced Saki Monkeys with a circular viewing glass and the exhibit is a lot of plants and small trees. Unfortunately I usually can't get great shots because of the glare from the sun. Now back track to the main enterance to Tropic World. But right before the doors is an smallish imo sized exhibit featuring 2 Blue and Yellow Macaws and one Red and green Macaw. Their exhibit a decent height to it with a couple of tree branches they can climb. After that you could finally enter Tropic World...

 

By the way I know these parts are small compared to the other walk-throughs you have experienced but I am just starting out!

 

Great idea for a thread, but it might need tidying up a bit savethelephants, especially the formatting (e.g. stuff in bold). Also, it might help if you mentioned which zoo it was a walkthrough of - Central Park?

 

yes it is but for some reason when i tried fixing by putting it by central park and then editing it wouldn't let me

 

and what do you mean by formatting?

 

I will move it into the Central Park Zoo forum and change the title, which i don't think you can do after posting a thread. Formatting in this case means what everything looks like, some things are in bold, but one macaw isn't, and neither is the heading "walkthrough" - look at your post and you will see, this can be edited and fixed up yourself.

 

thanks a lot zooboy28

 

Good Luck "Savetheelephant" with this. I know these walk through's are not easy to type up. Are the coatis no longer outside the Tropic Zone?

Just like in the Bronx Zoo; the tropic zone species change often and it is hard to capture all the free flight birds. I hope you took note of all the birds, they have some great species in there.

 

well bigfoot 410, I copied the species from the plaques so even if i hadn't seen it, it still will be there

 

and there are coatis

 

but i am actually very busy tonight so we will see if i have time

 

Welcome to Tropic World! After a plaque to right of you explaining the "tropics", you go through another set of wooden doors. Warning! If you don't like humidity then just stop reading now. Anyways for the real zoo fans, you are now surrounded by very tall and lush trees filled with free flying birds. I will now give you the free flying species that inhabit this building. Oh and please forgive me as the species are very well hidden so I am not sure if the birds are always hiding or aren't there anymore. I am going by alphabetical order.
Bartlett's Bleeding Heart Pigeon
Blue and Yellow Macaw they have another exhibit here with what I think is different birds than the ones you would see earlier.
Blue Crowned Motmot
Blue Headed Macaw
Blue Whistling Thrush
Crested Coua
Crested Wood Partridge
Fawn Breasted Bowerbird
Golden Breasted Starling
Green Peafowl
Long-Tiled Glossy Starling
Long Tailed Hornbillonly one but usually divebombs visitors!
Masked Lapwing
Nicobar Pigeon
Red and Green Macaw they have another exhibit here with what I think is different birds than the ones you would see earlier.
Red Bird of Paradise
Scarlet Ibis
Sunbittern
Taveta Golden Weaver
Venezuelan Troupial
Victoria Crowned Pigeon
White Fronted Amazon
Also in the center of the building is a Greater Malayan Mouse Deer but he is now off exhibit for a while. Don't know why.
Well that concludes the free flying birds. Again please forgive me if I forgot something or added something. Please feel free to tell me.
As you go down the path to your left will be a large space called "The Beach" filled with whatever birds come and go, but the birds I have seen most over there are the Victoria Crowned Pigeon, Scarlet Ibis, and the Long Tailed Hornbill. Also in there are 4 Burmese Mountain Tortoise. There are also a couple of Rodrigues Fruit Bat. Now keep going up the path and you will find a flight of stairs. Directly below the stairs is a tank with Red Bellied Piranha. As you go up those stairs, you enter a darkish room. In the first exhibit there are a couple of Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. To the right of that are a couple of small tunnels which used to hold leafcutter ant but not anymore, unfortunately. To the right of that is a large and nocturnal habitat with logs and boulders scattered throughout for hundreds of Short Tailed Fruit bat. Also in there is a single Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman which usually hangs out in a small pool. To right of that is a sign which explains the significance of bats with reducing bug population and such. Keep following the path and you will reach some even more stairs which has a glass viewing for Black and White Ruffed Lemur which replaced colobus monkeys about a decade ago. Now keep following the stairs and you will reach an overlook. Keep following the path to your right to reach a long hallway. The first exhibit in front of you are a small group of Cotton Top Tamarins. And to the left of that is a nicely sized exhibit for Banded Mongoose with an exhibit that replicates a part of the desert. In that hallway are various terrariums for
Dumerils Boa
Emerald Tree Boa
Green Tree Monitor
Gila Monster
Rainbow Boa
Red Footed Tortoise
Rhinoceros Rat Snake
Solomon Islands Ground Skink
Tentacled Snake
Texas Tortoise
Waxy Monkey Frog
Orient Night Anole
Prehensiled Tailed skink
Bolivian Gray Titi Monkey
Kagu
Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat
Angola Python
King Snake
I know there are more species so can someone please remind me?
Anyways after you leave the hallway you get a larger view of the lemurs. After you go down some stairs,(trust me even with all these stairs you don't need to be fit!) you end up by a tank filled with Blue Poison Dart Frog, Green and Black Poison Dart Frog, Yellow Banded Poison Dart Frog, and Golden Poison Frog. Finally you keep going a little more down the path and you reach the exit with signs talking about how domestic cats affect bird population and that kind of stuff. After that you go back to the (unhumid) outside. But just as the macaws, there is another exhibit with 3 South American Coati. After the hot of the rainforest you now visit the cool of the mountains...

 

Great job!
A couple of bird species I have seen over the past 2-3 years that maybe are not labeled include the kagu, crested coua and this spring they had a parrot species with a black ringed neck. There used to be two-toed sloth in the forest too (not sure when it left).

As for the exhibits on the second floor: they seem to change frequently.
Last spring cloud rats were in the last exhibit before re-entering the forest and I think Angola python and a king snake species were there. I also thought they had a second tamarin species (golden headed maybe). I know they used to have black lion tamarins that bred.

I do agree, not having the leaf cutter ants is very disappointing. It was an interesting and very active exit.

 

You know i remember them from 2-3 trips ago but not the last one

 

Nice idea Savethelephant Just a few things, though:

As of my last visit in July, the zoo has South American Coatis, the macaws, and White-Faced Saki displayed outside the Tropic Zone building. The Bolivian Grey Titis are displayed inside and afaik the zoo does not have Brown Titis. Also, I've never seen the "Burmese Mountain Tortoises" inside the building, only Red-Footed Tortoises in the aviary and I think you mean Solomon Island Ground Skink, not snake Finally, the Sri Lankan Junglefowl are in the children's zoo aviary now.

In addition to bolding the animal's names, you may also want to have the scientific name italicized as well

~Thylo

 

Now that you have exited from the coati exhibit you make an immediate left and keep walking until you reach a pond. In that pond are a couple of bird species. Unfortunately they are usually switched out so I will tell you the ones that are always there: Whooper Swan Red Eared Slider, and Mallard Duck . Now go back down that path and to your left will be the true entrance to Temperate Territory. Now, as you go up the path there will be a long cement barrier with cut offs for you to view Japanese Snow Monkey. Their exhibit is very well made with a bunch of boulders mashed on top of each other in the middle, with smaller ones throughout surrounded by water which recreates their hot spring loving baths. Also on the edges there is cement where some of the monkeys could hide. You can also view this on the opposite side. But as your going down make sure to make a quick left into a gazeebo style structure. When you take a look, you can see a mixed species exhibit with 1.1 Reeves Muntjac and a pair of White Naped Cranes who around a year ago had chicks. Also if you look closely at the female muntjac you can see one of her eyes are completely milky which makes me think that she either has some type of cataracts, or is blind completely in that eye. The exhibit is made to look like an Asian forest with some shrubs and small trees with a stream with pebbles and an elevated food bowl of sorts. And to the left of that exhibit here are 1.1 Western Red Pandas in a similar exhibit but with more trees and a cave. Now as you leave these exhibits and continue up the path, there are signs about the snow leopard and how far it could jump and a fake ibex skull and things like that. As yo keep walking you will notice an very nice outdoor bird exhibit which has Himalayn Monal , Black Stork , and other small waterfowl species such as White Winged Wood Duck,Baikal Teal etc... But now take an almost immediate left and meet the Snow Leopards of the zoo. The first exhibit has a single male because in the exhibit next to the is a female named Zoe and their fast growing cub. The signs talk abut the work the WCS does to protect wild snow leopards and how they are a leading breeding program. Their exhibits both feature some rock ledges and an artificial heated rock in front of the visitors. The leopards are ever lively, and always walking right in front of the glass. As it was a chilly day and nearing closing, very few people were at the exhibits so I got excellent pictures of the male yawning and roaring which the zoo keeper responded, "You are so pathetic!" It was around eating time so when the keeper came he was really roaring! I'll upload pics as soon as I can. The exhibit is one of the best at the zoo easily which also has interactive displays to encourage visitors to appreciate nature and donate to the WCS (in a good way!) . So keep going down and the path and you visit the zoo's two star attractions, Betty and Veronica the female Grizzly bears. These bears as cubs were rescued from the Yellowstone area when their mothers were put down due to garbage eating and that kind of behavior. The exhibit used to hold the necrotic Gus the polar bear in an arctic type exhibit. After he was euthanized due to a tumor, it took a couple of months to change the arctic exhibit to an exhibit which is made for grizzly bears, each include a running stream, rocks to pull, push, and lie on, etc... The plaques throughout are usually mentioning to keep yourself bearproof in the wild, lock trash cans and be smart regarding safety. As you go down some stairs (no surprise there) you end up at a nicely sized exhibit for 1.1 Harbor Seals. The exhibit is mostly water with some land for them to lie on. Before the seals came these birds inhabited it which are now dispersed throughout the zoo. Thanks to thylo for this list.
White-Winged Wood Duck
African Pygmy Goose
Ruddy Shelduck
Plumed Whistling Duck
Red-Billed Pintail
Red-Breasted Merganser
Chinese Merganser
Mandarin Duck
Pacific Eider
Spectacled Eider
King Eider
Long-Tailed Duck
White-Headed Duck
Baer's Pochard
American Goldeneye
Harlequin Duck
Emperor Goose
Pink-Eared Duck
Philippine Duck
After that you reach a child's favorite, the Penguin's and Sea Birds house.

 

oh and by the way thank you thylo for the new info. but speaking of walkthroughs...

 

Also I think I will do scientific name after I finish the walkthrough

 

Well, time for the final section of this walkthrough.. It had to happen at some point. Anyway here it is.

As you're leaving from the harbor seals continue done he path and to your left you will see a bunch of icicles looking like part of the antarctic or somewhere very cold. This is the Penguin and Sea Bird House. Anyways go in and to the left will be a se of doors to go in. The first sense to operate when you open the door will be your sense of smell! Some people love it and some hate it to such a degree they walk right out.(I read about that somewhere). So when you walk in there will be a video screen talking about the penguin program they have here. Along the left side of the wall will be a long and deep enclosure for 6 species.
Chinstrap Penguin
Eurasian Oysercatcher
Gentoo Penguin
Great Black-backed Gull
King Penguin
Rockhopper Penguin. The exhibit itself is very good and well made, but unfortunately because of the dark room and filthy glass it's not a great place to take pictures. Feedings are at 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. During the feedings it get very crowded so I would get here early to get a good spot. As you go along the corridor look to your right and you will see a narrow, long exhibit for
Atlantic Puffin
Tufted Puffin
King Eider
and other small sea birds some of which I mentioned in the last section of the walthrough. Right before you exit there's a mural for a beach which has species such as different penguins, elephant seals, leopard seals etc... When you exit the building to your left will be a nice enclosure for a Eurasian Eagle Owl. Well that's the final species for the main zoo. Going a little off topic here but from the gate by the street you can easily see the California Sea Lions which is really nice of the zoo to allow people who don't pay to see the zoo are allowed to see some animal. Especially with a show. Anyways so as you go out walk left. As you keep walking you pass by the Delacorte Clock which plays every half-hour. Whap happens is, the animals on top spin and move around. It's quite nice. Anyways go under the tunnel under 65th street and keep walking and eventually you will hit the Children's zoo. Admission is included with the main zoo. When you go up a winding ramp yo will go through a tree with Fly River Turtle and Rainbow Fish in it and around the Children's zoo is animal such as
Nubian Goat
Pygmy Goat
Potbellied Pig
Alpaca
Pintail
Shelduck
Guineafowl
Green Peafowl
Chinese Merganser
Cattle (one cow)
Sri Lankan Jungle Fowl
Patagonian Cavy So your typical children's zoo. Of course there are feeders for 25 cents, interactive activities for children, small statues, etc...
So there is the Central Park Zoo! I really hoped you enjoyed it and benefited from it. One more time, if I made any mistakes feel free to correct me. Good bye!

 

It's Fly River Turtle and a species of rainbowfish (forget which but will look it up later) in the log, not pacu.

And I wouldn't really describe the penguin enclosure as short

~Thylo