Arguably the flagship star of New York’s Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Bronx Zoo is also arguably one of the greatest zoos in the U.S. The Bronx Zoo first opened its gates to the public on November 8, 1899, showcasing 22 exhibits with 843 animals; today its award-winning, cutting-edge exhibits now house more than 4,000 animals. Only the outer structure of the World of Reptiles remains almost unchanged from its original 1899 incarnation.

The complete history of the Bronx Zoo actually begins in 1895, with the establishment of the New York Zoological Society (NYZS, renamed WCS in 1993). Succeeding — and surpassing — its goal of creating a zoological park, advancing the study of zoology, protecting wildlife and educating the public, the Society is now world-renowned for its parks’ diversity, superb viewing and expertise, including providing superb veterinary care to the WCS’s more than 15,000 animals. The zoo’s education program reaches more than 1.7 million schoolchildren in the New York metropolitan area and in school systems in all 50 U.S. states and in 15 nations.

What difference has the Bronx Zoo made for conservation efforts? In 1905, the NYZS sponsored the founding of the American Bison Society; today, many of the bison in the western U.S. are descendents of those Bronx Zoo animals. Snow leopards were first exhibited at the zoo in 1903, making it the first zoo in the western hemisphere to exhibit them; these beautiful and endangered cats have been successfully bred at the Bronx Zoo, with 82 cubs born within a 33-year span. The opening of the African Plains exhibit in 1941 made the zoo one of the first in the U.S. to move away from exhibiting animals in cages to exhibiting them in naturalistic habitats. The most innovative project to date is the award-winning Congo Gorilla Forest, a 6.5 acre African rain forest habitat that is home to 400 animals of 55 species, including 23 lowland gorillas.

Undoubtedly, the Bronx Zoo will undergo more changes in the years to come. It will also always be guided by the original mission set forth back in 1895: to advance the study of zoology, protect wildlife and educate the public through innovative exhibits.

The Bronx Zoo
2300 Southern Boulevard
Bronx, New York 10460
718-367-1010