Central Park Zoo: The Full Guide

The Central Park Zoo sits in the park's southeast corner, a few steps in from Fifth Avenue and East 64th Street. It's run by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) — the same nonprofit behind the Bronx Zoo, the New York Aquarium, and the Prospect Park and Queens Zoos — and it's small on purpose: 7 acres you can walk end to end without needing a map. It's not the zoo you plan a whole day around; it's the one you slot into a Midtown itinerary between the park's other landmarks and whatever else is on the schedule.

A short history

Animals have lived on this spot since the 1860s, back when the collection was little more than donated menagerie stock. What's there now dates to 1934, and it looked very different until the 1980s — cramped cages, dated enclosures, the kind of setup zoos don't build anymore. The whole thing closed in late 1983 for a five-year, $35 million rebuild, and reopened on August 8, 1988, with naturalistic habitats replacing the old cages and the WCS taking over operations.

Animals and exhibits

The zoo is organized into a handful of zones instead of one long path. The Tropic Zone recreates a rainforest, with the climate and canopy to match. The Temperate Territory holds the zoo's two headline residents — snow leopards and red pandas, both part of WCS breeding programs for species that are endangered in the wild. The Polar Circle houses Gentoo, King and Chinstrap penguins alongside tufted puffins, in a cold-climate exhibit visitors tend to linger at. And the Central Garden anchors the middle of the zoo around the California sea lion pool, which is the closest thing the zoo has to a centerpiece — most visitors end up circling back to it more than once.

Tisch Children's Zoo

Right next to the main zoo, the Tisch Children's Zoo is built for younger kids — sheep, goats, ducks, and Manhattan's only cow, all approachable enough for a hands-on visit. Coin-operated feed dispensers let kids feed some of the animals directly, which tends to be the highlight of the whole trip for the under-8 crowd.

The Delacorte Clock

Between the main zoo and the Children's Zoo, the Delacorte Clock is a small piece of engineering worth timing your visit around. Every half hour from 8 AM to 6 PM, a parade of bronze animal musicians circles the clock face to a chime playing a nursery rhyme or seasonal tune. It's free to watch from the walkway even if you're not going into the zoo itself.

Sea lion and penguin feeding times

Feedings are the closest thing the zoo has to a live show, and they're worth building your visit around. Sea lions are typically fed three times a day, and penguins twice — but exact times can shift with staffing and season, so check the schedule posted at the entrance or on the official site the day you visit rather than planning down to the minute.

How long to plan for a visit

Budget 1 to 2 hours for the main zoo and the Tisch Children's Zoo together. That's enough to see every exhibit without rushing, catch a feeding or two, and let kids loose in the Children's Zoo. It pairs naturally with a walk through the rest of Central Park — see our guide to things to do in the park for what's nearby, or book a guided tour if you want to cover more ground afterward.

Hours, tickets and when to go

Hours shift with the season, and the site's own schedule is the only reliable source since it can change year to year. As a general pattern: spring through fall, the zoo tends to open at 10 AM and run until early evening, with slightly longer hours on weekends; in winter, closing time moves up by 30 to 60 minutes. Last entry is always about an hour before closing. Check the official hours and rates page before you go — and for the same reason, we're not publishing a ticket price here, since it changes and we'd rather send you to the number that's actually current. Early morning on a weekday is the quietest window if you want the exhibits without a crowd around the sea lion pool.

Getting to the Central Park Zoo

The entrance is at Fifth Avenue and East 64th Street, inside the park at its southeast corner. By subway, take the N, R or W to Fifth Avenue/59th Street and walk four blocks north, or the 6 train to 68th Street–Hunter College and walk a few blocks west then south. It's roughly a 10-minute walk from Grand Army Plaza — see where Central Park is for the full rundown of entrances and subway lines around the rest of the park.

Accessibility

The zoo is built to be wheelchair accessible throughout — ramps and accessible restrooms at every exhibit, and an elevator up to the Tropic Zone mezzanine. Wheelchairs are available to borrow for free at the entrance, first-come first-served, so arrive early if you'll need one.

Central Park Zoo vs. the Bronx Zoo

Both are WCS-run, and that's about where the similarity ends. The Bronx Zoo covers 265 acres and is genuinely a full-day trip, with a far bigger animal roster and a 45-to-60 minute subway ride from Midtown to get there. The Central Park Zoo trades that scale for convenience: it's inside the park you're probably already visiting, doable in under two hours, and easy to combine with the Met, the rest of Central Park, or a walk down Fifth Avenue. If wildlife is the whole point of your day, go to the Bronx. If you want a solid, low-effort stop on a day that's already packed with other things, the Central Park Zoo does the job. WCS also runs a smaller zoo inside Prospect Park in Brooklyn, worth knowing about if your trip takes you that way instead.

Frequently asked questions about the Central Park Zoo