Talk Bronx New York

A red eyed tree frog that makes it’s home in the Bronx. The Bronx Zoo is celebrating its 110th birthday this year.

A red ruffled lemur mesmerizes with giant golden eyes

When the Bronx Zoo first opened its gates to the public in 1899, William McKinley was in the White House, the first city subway line was being dug, and the paperclip had just been patented. So much has changed since, but the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo remains an integral part of New York City’s character.

A Palawan peacock is one of the zoo’s feathered inhabitants.

In honor of the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States turning 110 years old, here’s a list of 110 things every New Yorker should know about the Bronx Zoo.

1. The Bronx Zoo opened to visitors on November 8th, 1899.
2. On opening day, the zoo featured 843 animals in 22 exhibits.
3. The zoo borders the south side of the New York Botanical Garden.
4. Most of the land on which the zoo was built was previously owned by Fordham University.
5. Fordham sold it to the city for only $1,000 with the stipulation that the lands be used for a zoo and garden.
6. More than 236 million guests have visited the zoo since its opening.
7. With 265 acres, the Bronx Zoo is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States.
8. The zoo employs over 750 full-time staff per year.
9. Theodore Roosevelt and William Hornaday, the Bronx Zoo’s first director, helped form the American Bison Society (ABS) at the zoo in 1905.
10. The buildings in Astor Court were designed by the firm of Heins & Lafarge, who also designed the original plans for the cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights. Read more..

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Bronx, NY - Tiki Barber and “Team Tiki” led the pack at the first annual Wildlife Conservation Society Run for the Wild on Saturday. Over 3,800 participants ran, walked or strolled through the Bronx Zoo during the 5K experience created to benefit wildlife and wild places. This year’s run highlighted gorillas, a species that WCS has had a leadership role in conserving for over five decades. The Bronx Zoo’s award-winning Congo Gorilla Forest allows zoo-goers to get up close with just glass between a gorilla and them. The run was part of the zoo’s Earth Month and Earth Expo festivities, which ends on Sunday, April 26. To plan a visit or pledge support for gorillas and the WCS Run for the Wild, there’s still time – go to www.wcsrunforthewild.com.

The stage was set for more than 3,800 participants at the first annual Wildlife Conservation Society’s Run for the Wild with a ceremonial ribbon cutting by former NFL running back Tiki Barber. Helping him do the honors are (left to right) Vincent LeVien, NYS Comptroller’s Office Dir of Community Affairs; Preston HS student Francesca Marricco, who sang the National Anthem; John Robinson, WCS Exec VP of Global Programs; Hector Aponte, Bronx Parks Commissioner; Tiki Barber; Congressman Jose E. Serrano; John Calvelli, WCS Exec VP for Public Affairs; Edith McBean, WCS Trustee; Dr. Robert Cook, WCS Exec VP for Living Institutions; and Jim Breheny WCS Director for the Bronx Zoo. Read more..

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MANILA, Philippines - Here in New York city, polls reveal that some 80 percent of women and a slightly lower percentage of men feel they are severely stressed by the damage done to the country’s economy in the past month. No one has asked for my advice on what to do. But if they did, I’d tell them to spend a day at the Bronx Zoo, preferably on Wednesdays when the admission is free and the park is packed with thousands of children from the city’s schools. I’d advise them to listen to the children, watch how they react to the animals and learn from them. In fact, any zoo will do, or any park, beach, woods or rural area as long as there are children and small animals. No zoo is too humble, the Bronx Zoo or Manila Zoo; any strange animal, big or small, is as good as any other.

I went to the zoo with my wife, daughter and two young special children, brothers whom my daughter teaches, and one of their friends. I was surprised first by where the boys wanted to go: the Mouse House and the Reptile House, not the gorillas, big cats, rhinos or grizzlies. The two places overflowed with little children holding hands, wandering in the semi darkness of these houses, standing wide-eyed in front of white striped African mice or tiny turtles that look like leaves and twigs, Norway rats and strange lizards, including a chuckwalla who stared back with cold black eyes. Huge, powerful men looked after the little children, teachers and parents. Some of them could have been on loan from the New York Giants offensive line. They were not very good at answering the children’s questions, however.

We overheard a little boy say to his companion in front of another exhibit, “Watch those turtles. They’re gonna eat the fish. I have a turtle, I know. Trust me.”

They waited and waited, but the turtles never moved. Two high school boys had overheard the little boy and stayed to watch. They waited and when nothing happened, one of them said, “F— it, let’s go.”

The older we get, the less patience we have with new things, animals, people or ideas.

Another group of children watched an exhibit of shrimps. One of the shrimps chased the others. “Look at that crab go,” a little boy said.

“That ain’t no crab, it’s a frog,” a friend corrected.

Another boy wanted to see the sharks. Unfortunately, they were far away in the Coney Island aquarium. Read more..

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