A Visit To The Central Park Zoo
Read more articles on Travel and Parks and Zoos.September 3, 2008
Posted by neillevine
September 3, 2008
Posted by neillevine
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While Central Park is a big, beautiful urban space in the middle of a crowded City, the specific goal I had in mind for my last visit was to see the Zoo there, something I had not done in more than twenty years, since the Administration of Mayor Edward Irving Koch and his Parks Commissioner, Henry Stern.
Way back then, the Zoo was all steel bars and cement rooms. No longer. Now it is celebrating twenty years as not only kid friendly, but also environmentally friendly for animals, too, just like the Queens Zoo, which I recently reported on.
In order to get to the Zoo, I got off the subway at Sixth Avenue and 57th Street, near the Jekyll & Hyde night club I visited on New Year’s Day. This made it convenient to take a look at the summer play land set up at the site of the Wollman Rink, the winter ice skating arena.
I chose the spot where the horse drawn carriages and pedicabs park to enter the park. Once inside, there were lots of occupied benches and grassy, wooded areas and a large body of water with a waterfall, underlining the fact theat Central Park is entirely man made, although it looks completely natural. For example, th ere are six bodies of water inside fed by a complex system of drainage created more than one hundred thirty years ago when the Park was built. Beyond the water, there are thirty six bridges, plus horse paths, great lawns, small lawns and playgrounds, including the Wollman Ice Skating Rink. To put it in other words, history says all the natural beauty in the park is completely artificial.
I passed by the north side where the entrance was. There was loud music and lots of kids yelling on kiddie rides that can be found at family amusement parks. The prices and hours were clearly posted outside the main entrance. Since I was not out to visit Victorian Gardens, the name for the summer play land, I passed by and walked to some tables and seating with a panoramic view of the rides. Unfortunately, what appears to be a refreshment stand was closed but I enjoyed my little rest and proceeded to the Zoo, even getting a view of the horse drawn carriages and pedicabs giving financially generous tourists a guided tour of the Park.
A long walkway led past more benches, vendors, the Leaping Frog Café (a dining facility that appeared comparable to the food facility at the Aquarium), the Arsenal (Parks Department headquarters), and, finally, the Zoo entrance.
While the sea lion has a central spot near the entrance, he is quiet, unlike the fellow in Queens who wanted everyone to know he was there. On the other hand, some of the other exhibits are attention grabbing to say the least. The bats at the Zoo swarm like they are acting in a horror movie and manage to feast, one at a time on a large fruit in the front of their exhibit, apparently to show they are indeed ravenous.
Gus, the polar bear, who made the news papers way back because of what was considered obsessive behavior, is still swimming away like he was training for the Olympics. What an aquanaut. At this, zoo, of course, even the turtles show a lot of life.
Some animals appear to be lazing the day away like the snakes in the grass. Others, like the snow monkeys seem to be doing as much watching as the visitors are. Some of the featured animal displays like Gus, the polar bear and the snow monkeys and the sea lion have multiple panoramic views that are visually exciting. Others, live in several diverse buildings that are designed to imitate temperate territory or a rain forest or the polar circle at appropriate intervals all over the 5.5 acre zoo.
While I did not check in advance for special showings, I did walk in upon a zoo keeper feeding the penguins and giving some sort of lecture. Since it was crowded, I decided to move on to enjoy some of the other things to see.
As a matter of fact, the entire zoo was busy andit was getting late so I decided to call it a day and head home. I missed the attached children’s zoo because there was that it was there. )Perhaps some other time.
My next day trip may be Prospect Park and the joys of culture in Brooklyn.
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