General Tips For Visiting
The Bronx Zoo is the largest city zoo in the country where you can see and learn about a vast array of animals. To enjoy your visit to the zoo, there are a few insider tips to keep in mind.
- The zoo is big. It covers 265 acres and houses more than 7,000 animals. If you plan on seeing all of them, wear very comfortable shoes.
- To save money and time from waiting in food lines, bring your own food from home. There are plenty of picnic tables where you can enjoy your lunch or a snack.
- Bring bottled water and look for water fountains, located throughout the park, to refill your bottle.
- Figure out what exhibits you want to see. It is not easy to navigate the entire zoo in just one day.
- Park in the lot closest to the exhibits that you want to visit.
- Check the website to see what times special events, lectures or tours are taking place on the day you are visiting.
- If you opt to go on a Wednesday when admission is by donation, go early. It gets very crowded, especially in the summer and fall months.
- Bring toilet paper, sometimes the bathrooms run out.
- To keep kids amused, make sure to bring plenty of snacks.
- The Bronx Zoo has several entrances. If you are meeting friends and family, decide on the entrance that will be your meeting point before setting out.
Tourist Attraction Discount Pass
The Bronx Zoo’s General Admission Ticket is included free for holders of the Sightseeing Pass, both the flex and all-inclusive versions of this tourist discount pass.
Tourist passes work by bundling together popular attractions and tours and selling them together for a lower price than i you purchased them together.
Likewise, tourist passes often included skip-the-line privileges, which can save you lots of time, particularly in the busy season.
There are almost a dozen tourist pass options to choose from and we review each pass here.
Visiting The Bronx Zoo
Coming from Manhattan, the quickest way to get to the zoo is to take express bus BxM11. You can hop on at one of the bus stops at Madison Avenue, for example, the one at the corner of Madison Avenue and E 39 Street, and pay with a Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard or Apple Pay on your phone, connected to a credit card. You can get off at the stop named Bronx River Pkwy & Bronx Zoo Entrance. The Bronx Zoo opens at 10:00 and closes its doors between 16:30 and 17:30, depending on the season. As the park is quite big, I would recommend you have a look at the map and plan your route beforehand.
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Popular Exhibits And Attractions At The Bronx Zoo
The Butterfly Garden Well over a dozen different butterfly species flutter through the meadow and greenhouse, yet species seem to stick together. Often times, a large number of the same type are seen gathered at one nectar tray.
Congo Gorilla Forest Gorillas are among our closest relatives in the wild and thats pretty clear watching those at the Bronx Zoo. From cautious to playful to nurturing, each has a unique personality. Its always a thrill to see them interact.
Madagascar! There are about 97 lemur species native to the island of Madagascar, among them Coquerels Sifaka. Those at the Bronx Zoo are often active, using their strong hind legs to leap from limb to limb and rock to vine.
Is It Possible To Visit Bronx Zoo For Free
Limited Admission entry is free on Wednesdays, but you must have a reserved timed ticket.
Ticket sales open at 5 PM on the Monday before, and slots are on a first-come, first-served basis.
This does not grant you access to some of the attractions, but you will still see a lot of the animal exhibits.
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The Congo Gorilla Forest
One of the main attractions of the Bronx Zoo is the Congo Gorilla Forest. It is 6.5 acres and features more than 400 animal species. The setting of this exhibit is an African rainforest, which is also the backdrop for one of the largest breeding grounds in the world for lowland gorillas.
The exhibit details the need for rainforests and provides visitors with ideas for contributing to the preservation of rainforests everywhere. Throughout this exhibit, it is possible for the entire family to come up close with a gorilla. Featured animals include the western lowland gorilla, mandrill and okapi. Visitors are encouraged to use their five senses in order to detect animal presence, just as if they were on a true rainforest exploration.
Entrance to this exhibit is included with Total Experience and Zoos Plus membership. It costs $6 with a general admission ticket.
The Most Dangerous Animal In The World
The Most Dangerous Animal in the World exhibit debuted at the Bronx Zoo on April 26, 1963. The exhibit was installed at the Great Apes House and it featured a statement about the danger humans pose.
The words: “The Most Dangerous Animal in the World” were printed in red on top of a cage. Behind the bars of the cage there was a mirror. The exhibit was reportedly still at the zoo in 1981.
- Asia Gate Boston Road
- Bronx River Parkway Gate
- Fordham Road Gate
- Southern Boulevard Gate
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Tickets & Admission Faqs
What is the ticket price?
Please note that prices are subject to change. Advance timed ticket reservations are required. Our all-inclusive ticket starts at $41.95 and $31.95 for April – Oct and $30.95 and $22.95 for Nov – March, and provides park entry plus unlimited access to the rides and attractions available on that day of visit *. Limited Admission tickets are for park entry only and are $26.95 and $18.95 And, as always, children 2 and under are always free!
*Some attractions are seasonal. Availability also subject to unforeseen conditions such as weather, capacity, safety, mechanical and/or animal related issues.
Can I buy tickets at the zoo?
All tickets must be purchased and Member reservations must be made online in advance. Do not come to the zoo if you do not have a timed ticket for entry. If you have difficulty completing your online reservation, please email us at . Due to high message volume, you may experience longer than usual wait times, and we greatly appreciate your patience and understanding.
I didnt get an email with my tickets what do I do?
We are sorry for the difficulty. Please first check to confirm that the purchase was completed on your credit card. If the charge is in Pending status, that might mean that the transaction was not completed and there is no order made.
What is the difference between Limited Admission and Bronx Zoo Admission tickets?
How do I get a timed ticket if I already have a ticket that is not for a specific date?
How Long Does Bronx Zoo Take
If you are visiting with children, you may need four hours to explore the Bronx Zoo.
Children tend to linger longer around their favorite animal enclosures, attend feeding sessions, keeper talks and try out numerous experiences.
Families that break for lunch tend to take more time.
If you want, you can also turn it into a full-day outing because Bronx Zoo entry tickets dont have a time limit.
If you are in a hurry, you can walk past all exhibits and experiences in 90 minutes.
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Exhibits Closed After The 1990s
World of Darkness
World of Darkness opened in 1969 and was the world’s first major exhibit designed specifically to introduce the public to nocturnal animals such as the Chinese leopard cat , bay duiker, Pallas’s long-tongued bat, spiny mouse, lesser mouse lemur, small spotted genet, lesser spear-nosed bats, spotted skunk, fat-tailed lemursJamaican fruit bat, Mohol bushbaby, cloud rat, Hoffman’s two-toed sloth, rock cavy, pygmy slow loris, short-tailed bats, striped skunk, grey-legged night monkey, sand cat, Rodriguez flying fox, brush-tailed porcupine, broad-snouted caiman, sand boa and . Built by Morris Ketchum Jr. & Associates, the house was built where the zoo’s Rocking Stone Restaurant stood until 1942. The exhibit used red-lights to dimly illuminate the enclosures within the windowless building. Like all nocturnal exhibits, the house ran on a reversed lighting schedule, which simulated night and day at opposite times to allow visitors to view nocturnal animals in a more naturalistic setting. Due to budget cuts and the high cost of running the exhibit, it was closed in 2009.
Rare Animal Range
Skyfari
Monkey House
Some of the primates that were in the now-closed exhibit have been moved to other parts of the zoo, such as the cotton-top tamarins now being found in World of Birds others were sent to other New York City zoos, such as the sakis being moved to the Central Park Zoo. White-headed capuchins can still be seen in an outdoor cage behind the building.
4-D Theater
Paid Exhibits And Attractions
One admission to a premium exhibit costs between $12 to 14 per person per exhibit if paid separately. The fee for unlimited admission grants the ticket holder free access to all attractions for that day. Family memberships include full access.
There are nine premium exhibit attractions:
The Treetop Adventure Climb and Zipline requires a different fee and is not part of the admission fee online. Thus, it is not included in the park ticket or in any membership.
Bug Carousel
The Bug Carousel has seats shaped like insects. Installed in 2005, it has an annual ridership of 540,000 as of 2014.
Butterfly Garden
This permanent structure is an indoor butterfly conservatory which lets visitors walk through gardens and meadows and watch the butterflies up close. Built and inaugurated in mid-1996, the attraction is a 170-foot-long maze, where “visitors can walk through the stages of a monarch‘s metamorphosis” with a greenhouse in the middle hosting 44 species and over 1,000 butterflies the greenhouse is really “a plastic tent on an aluminum frame”. The structure, costing $500,000, is the precursor for a future permanent House of Invertebrates in the Monkey House near the Fordham Road entrance. Many species come from the New York metropolitan area, and all species of butterflies and moths are from around the continent.If not successful, the Oklahoma City Zoo would have purchased it in September 1997.
Congo Gorilla Forest
Wild Asia Monorail
Nature Trek
Bronx Zoo Treetop Adventure
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Tiger Mountain And African Plains
One of the most exhilarating exhibits at the Bronx Zoo is Tiger Mountain. Here, kids can come face-to-face with a tiger. The tiger exhibits are designed to mimic their natural habitats and the tigers are encouraged to maintain their natural tendencies, making for a very realistic glimpse into the life of these majestic creatures. The only separation between the tigers and guests is a glass partition, which allows visitors to see tigers up close. You may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one of the Malayan tiger cubs that are usually out in the morning.
Everyone loves big cats and the African Plains exhibit doesn’t disappoint. Here visitors will see majestic lions, African wild dogs and zebras. If you time your visit just right-mornings and late afternoon are best-you may see them play, drink water or nap in the shade. The best time of year to see this exhibit is from March 31 to November 3 when these animals are outside.
Tiger Mountain and African Plains are included with general admission.
When Is The Best Time To Visit Bronx Zoo
Bronx Zoo is open daily from 10 AM – 5 PM during the week, and 10 AM – 5.30 PM at weekends and on public holidays. The last entry to the zoo is 45 minutes before closing.
Time your Bronx Zoo visit for a weekday morning to escape the crowds. Once youre inside the park, you can stay as long as you like, which is a good thing as theres so much to see.
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American Animals At The Bronx Zoo
Whats really unique about The Bronx Zoo is that theres a large selection of animals that are native to the United States. You not only see the classic zoo animals, like zebras and giraffes but theres also a herd of American bison, some grizzly bears and even bald eagles. If youre in doubt about which New York zoo to visit and youre looking for the most impressive animals, you should definitely choose The Bronx Zoo.
Wild Asia Monorail And Jungleworld
A ride on the monorail takes you into the heart of Asia and is an excellent way to get a good view of the animals in this exhibit. It is relaxing to sit in the shade of the monorail and look at the animals as you pass them. Tour guides are on this seasonal ride to point out the animals that you will see during the twenty-minute journey. Of special interest are red pandas, elephants and rhinos.
The monorail and Jungleworld cost $6 extra with a general admission ticket. They are free with a Total Experience ticket or Zoos Plus membership.
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Bronx Zoo Hours Near Me
It might be hard to trace out whether Bronx Zoo is in your location or not. In that case, you can choose Store Locator or Google Maps to find the nearest location and their working timings. Type City, State or Zipcode of your address and thus Store Locator identifies both the nearby location, timings. You can even choose Google Maps to locate the closest location and its timings.
How To Get To Bronx Zoo
The zoo is located on Southern Boulevard in the Bronx, not far from New York Botanical Garden.
There are two car parks onsite, one on Southern Boulevard and the other off Bronx River Parkway. Parking costs $20 per day.
Those using public transport can take the BxM11 Express Bus from Manhattan directly to the zoos Bronx River entrance. If you prefer to take the subway, youll need to jump off at Pelham Park.
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Zoo And Botanical Garden
The is located on the northern side of Bronx Park, west of the Bronx River Parkway. It was founded by the New York Botanical Society in 1891.:147 The botanical garden covers 250 acres in total.:147 Much of this is the former grounds of the Lorillard estate,:147 although the garden also includes a parcel that was formerly the easternmost portion of the campus of St. John’s College .:147 The Botanical Garden contains more than a million living plants on its grounds, as well as the and the . Since 1967, the Botanical Garden has been a National Historic Landmark.
The is located on the southern side of Bronx Park, west of the Bronx River Parkway. Founded by the New York Zoological Society, it first opened on November 8, 1899. The zoo covers 265 acres , making it among the United States’ largest urban zoos. The zoo contains about 4,000 animals from 600 species. The Bronx Zoo has several landmarked features, including the at the Fordham Road entrance, which is a New York City designated landmark and a listing.
Be A Responsible Guest & Protect Yourself And Others
From social distancing behaviors to handwashing, we need all guests to continue to participate in proper healthy behaviors when visiting. Please remember:
- If you are sick, or have possible symptoms, please stay home and take time to recover.
- Distance responsibly! Keep at least 6 feet between yourself and others. Please be patient at animal exhibit areas and allow guests to move along before stepping forward or creating crowds. Pay attention to all zoo signs, as some pathways are now one-way.
- Wash your hands often. Restrooms for washing with soap and water are available across the park, and weve added hand sanitizer stations near exhibits and other gathering areas.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when sneezing or coughing.
- Do not touch your face with unwashed hands.
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Bronx Zoo When It Rains
On days when the weather isnt at your side, its good to stroll around JungleWorld an imitated Asian rainforest, including corresponding temperatures. Animals like otters, tapirs and gibbons all live in the same space here, just as in nature. Or visit the 4D cinema. The 4th dimension upon the HD 3D films that show special effects like wind, mist, light and fragrance.
Bronx Zoo Contact Details
Is Bronx Zoo Open on Sunday?
Yes, Bronx Zoo Opens on Sunday too within the timings 10 AM 4:30 PM.
What is Bronx Zoo Winter Hours?
The Zoo Opens all year around other than a few public Holidays. During Spring and Summer, there will be a greater crowd and you can visit during Winter too. Whenever weather cools off animals are more active so you will get to see less crowd.
What is Bronx Zoo Summer Hours?
During Summer or Warmer Months, Bronx Zoo Opens longer than regular hours i.e. from 10 AM to 5 PM. In fact, during summer Zoo Closes by 5:30 PM on Weekends, Holidays.
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