New York Bronx Zoo

 This year, we went to the New York Bronx Zoo twice.  Although the Zoo is located close to the City right above its northern border, it takes about 40 minutes to drive via the northern route avoiding the always crowded Route 95. The Zoo has four gates with parking lots. Among them, the Asia Gate seems to be located at the best spot to reach animals. However, I never tried this gate as it is very difficult to reach from New Jersey where I live. During the first visit, I found the parking lot from the Fordham Road Gate near the Zoo Center where the huge rhino statute stands, and decided to come to this gate next time. Unfortunately, this parking lot is the smallest of all and it was full when I came next time, so that I had to redirect to the Bronx River Gate, the worst of all the four.

The outstanding characteristic of this zoo is huge open space, where animals are walking around rather than kept in cages.  Animals are separated not by grids but by ditches or glass panels. Peacocks are allowed to walk around freely in the zoo with people. They seem to be striving to display animals as natural as possible in their environments.

The Wild Asia Monorail Ride is the excellent attraction you should never miss. Riding on the mono-rail car, you travel across the Bronx River and enjoy various wild lives roaming around in the Asian wilderness in front of you. There you see tigers, elephants, hippos, dears etc., etc.   

  Another attractive place is the Congo Gorilla Forest. There you see the family of gorillas living in front of your eyes beyond the glass panel.  As if they do not see the world beyond the glass, they play mischievously together. The direct link with animals’ native land is another excellent feature of this zoo. Through movie displays and pamphlets, they explain where these animals naturally live and call for the support to conserve them.