The Central Park Zoo is a zoo located at the southeast corner of Central Park in New York City. It is part of an integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In conjunction with the Central Park Zoo's operations, the WCS offers children's educational programs, is engaged in restoration of endangered species populations, and reaches out to the local community through volunteer programs.
Its precursor, a menagerie, was founded in 1864, becoming the first public zoo to open in New York. The present facility first opened as a city zoo on December 2, 1934, and was part of a larger revitalization program of city parks, playgrounds and zoos initiated in 1934 by New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) commissioner Robert Moses. It was built, in large part, through Civil Works Administration and Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor and funding. The Children's Zoo opened to the north of the main zoo in 1960, using funding from a donation by Senator Herbert Lehman and his wife Edith.
In 1983, after 49 years of operation by NYC Parks, Central Park Zoo closed for reconstruction. The closure was part of a five-year, $35 million renovation program, that completely replaced the zoo's cages with naturalistic environments. It was rededicated in August 1988, as part of a system of five facilities managed by the WCS, all of which are accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
Description
The Central Park Zoo is part of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), an integrated network of four zoos and an aquarium spread throughout New York City. Located at East 64th Street and Fifth Avenue, the zoo is situated on a plot in Central Park. Visitors may enter through the Fifth Avenue entrance or from within Central Park.
The Central Park Zoo is a major tourist attraction within Central Park, drawing more than one million people every year. According to a 2011 study by the Central Park Conservancy, the zoo and its surroundings were visited by an estimated four million people each year. However, the WCS cites much lower figures since it only counts patrons with tickets. In 2007, it recorded that 1.01 million people visited the Central Park Zoo, and in 2006, 1.03 million people. , the Central Park Zoo had 1,487 animals representing 163 species.
Main zoo Trellised, vine-clad, glass-roofed pergolas link the three major exhibit areas—tropic, temperate and polar—housed in discrete buildings of brick trimmed with granite, masked by vines. The exhibit areas are centered around a square central garden that contains a square sea lion pool in its center. The sea lion pool is surrounded by glass fencing to allow visitors to observe the sea lions and their daily feedings.
Exhibits and other buildings The structure at the central garden's southwestern corner is the "Tropic Zone", which contains a two-story representation of a tropical rainforest. There is also a large free-flight area for birds. The rainforest houses Rodrigues flying foxes, Seba's short-tailed bats, emerald tree boas, pythons, cotton-top tamarins, white-eared titis, toucans, black-and-white ruffed lemurs from the Bronx Zoo. There is also a large variety of birds, and the zoo also keeps red-bellied piranhas, pig-nosed turtles, and red-footed tortoises. The elephant house of the original menagerie was formerly located at the site.
To the west of the garden is the "Temperate Territory", a landscaped series of paths surrounding a lake. It houses animals such as red pandas, white-naped cranes, Japanese macaques, and snow leopards. A snow leopard exhibit in the Temperate Territory opened in June 2009. The Temperate Territory is located on the site of the 1934 zoo's cafeteria.
The northern side of the garden is adjacent to the "Penguins and Sea Birds" section. This multilevel structure contains a chilled penguin house that houses macaroni penguins, king penguins, chinstrap penguins, gentoo penguins, Atlantic puffins, tufted puffins and an outdoor pool with harbor seals, as well as an outdoor grizzly bear exhibit. It is located on the site of a lion house that was built in 1934 along with the original menagerie.
The eastern side of the central garden is next to the Arsenal, technically located outside the zoo. The structure was completed in 1851 and originally intended as a weapons and ammunition storehouse for the New York State Militia. It once served as an actual zoo building, but now contains NYC Parks Department offices. Central Park Zoo includes a 4D theater, located to the north of the Arsenal. A souvenir shop and ticket booth are located to the south of the Arsenal.
The southern side of the garden contains the Intelligence Garden, located at the site of the original menagerie's horned animal/small mammal house. Its name is inspired by a rare-animal menagerie created by King Wen of Zhou in 1100 B.C. A cafeteria, the Dancing Crane Cafe, is located to the south of the Intelligence Garden.
Art and conservation programs Several works of public art can be found in the Central Park Zoo. Five structures, preserved from the original zoo built in 1934, still feature their original animal-themed limestone friezes sculpted by Frederick Roth. The same artist created a pair of bronze statues for the original zoo, Dancing Goat and Dancing Bear, which now flank the zoo's southern entrance. Tigress and Cubs, one of the park's oldest statues, was created by Auguste Cain in 1867 and installed on a rock outcrop near the Lake, but moved to the zoo in 1934.
The zoo coordinates breeding programs for some endangered species as part of the Species Survival Plan, such as thick-billed parrots and red pandas. In 2011, the Central Park Zoo was the first North American zoo to hatch ducklings of critically endangered scaly-sided mergansers. The first example of whispering in non-human primates was observed at the Central Park Zoo in 2013, when tamarin monkeys were heard whispering around a staff member that they disliked.
The zoo hosts educational venues as well as exhibits. The volunteer program at the Central Park Zoo engages members of the community; it is a combination outreach and educational program for adults. Volunteer guides conduct tours for visitors, while volunteer docents augment the educational program. Docents enroll in a four-month training program. The zoo also offers several programs for students.
Children's Zoo The Children's Zoo is located north of the main zoo. It is officially named the Tisch Children's Zoo after businessman Laurence A. Tisch, whose donation funded the zoo's 1990s renovation. The Children's Zoo contains a petting zoo with mini nubian goats (a crossbreed between Nigerian dwarf and Nubian goats), sheep, pigs, alpacas, Patagonian cavies, and the only cow in Manhattan, as well as the Acorn Theatre, a performing arts theater. Admission to the Children's Zoo is included with the purchase of tickets to the main zoo.
The Lehman Gates by Paul Manship are a notable feature retained from the original Children's Zoo. They were donated by Herbert and Edith Lehman in 1960 in honor of their 50th anniversary, and as part of their donation toward the construction of the Children's Zoo itself. The gates were renovated in the 1980s. Additionally, the Delacorte Clock, a gift of George T. Delacorte dedicated in 1965, is mounted on a three-tiered tower above the arcade between the Wildlife Center and the Children's Zoo.
History
Original menagerie
Planning and creation The zoo was not part of the original Greensward Plan for Central Park created by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. However, a menagerie near the Arsenal, on the edge of Central Park located at Fifth Avenue facing East 64th Street, spontaneously evolved from gifts of exotic pets and other animals informally given to the park. The first animal, a bear cub tied to a tree, was left in Central Park in 1859, followed by a monkey the next year. These animals were popular with the park's visitors even though there was no formal zoo at the time. Soon, people began donating other animals such as cranes, a peacock, and goldfish. Unsolicited donations came from a variety of people, from prominent figures to young boys. The donations also included dead animals. The Central Park planning commission recorded all of these donations in its annual reports.
The American Zoological and Botanical Society, which sought to create a zoo somewhere in New York City, was created in early 1860. The group began discussing possible sites for a zoo, among them Central Park. By 1862, had been set aside for the construction of a future "zoological and botanical garden", later the Central Park Zoo. meanwhile, the animals were kept in the Central Park Mall. Popular animals included three bald eagles and a bald-headed monkey.
In 1864, the zoo formally received charter confirmation from New York's assembly, making it the United States' second publicly owned zoo, after the Philadelphia Zoo, which was founded in 1859. By then, the park had over 400 animals; more than 250 additional animals were donated in 1864–1865 alone. Originally the zoo was supposed to be located in Manhattan Square, on the west side of Central Park where the American Museum of Natural History is now located, though this location was never used as a zoo. Up to twelve sites were eventually considered for the zoo throughout the last three decades of the 19th century, including the North Meadow of Central Park. Some animals were moved to the Arsenal in 1865, and larger animals grazed there during summers. In 1868, a "deer park" was established at the current site of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 1870, when the Tammany Hall political organization took control of the Central Park commission, it mandated that the Central Park menagerie buy its own animals rather than accept donations, and it moved the animals to five structures behind the Arsenal. The same year, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins sculpted dinosaur figures for the Paleozoic Museum, a proposed dinosaur museum near the zoo, but they were destroyed in a fit of vandalism that the Geologists' Association described as "perplexing".
Popularity and decline The menagerie became popular because of its free admission and proximity to working-class Lower Manhattan; by 1873, it saw 2.5 million annual visitors. The first permanent menagerie building was constructed behind the Arsenal in 1875. The menagerie reached peak popularity in the mid-1880s after a chimpanzee nicknamed "Mike Crowley" was imported from Liberia. Observers such as former president Ulysses S. Grant showed up at the Monkey House to see the chimpanzee, overfilling the building past capacity. However, Irish-American groups took offense to the chimpanzee's nickname, saying that the names given to animals in the Central Park menagerie were stereotypically Irish, and thus derogatory to that ethnic group. Frederick Law Olmsted also disapproved of the menagerie, believing Central Park to be better suited for scenic vistas than for entertainment, though he admitted that the zoo was the most popular part of the park.