5 Reasons We Love the Bronx Zoo's Renovated Children's Zoo

Being Bronx residents, my family and I are frequent flyers at the Bronx Zoo and waited patiently as the Children’s Zoo section underwent a lengthy renovation. It reopened late in the spring, and we made our first visit there yesterday. The changes at first seemed subtle to us, since the basic layout and many key attractions remain the same, but as we progressed through the space, they became more apparent and exciting. 

Here are five reasons we love the new Children’s Zoo at the Bronx Zoo:

1)   More—and new—animals: I’d never seen an anteater before, and it’s larger and hairier than I imaged. That’s just one of the new creatures living in the Children’s Zoo post-renovation. There’s also a sloth—which wasn’t doing much, as you might have assumed—and several pudu, the world’s smallest breed of deer. All in all, it seemed to us that the Children’s Zoo is putting more of an emphasis on seeing and learning about animals without eliminating the other activities kids love, a shift that I welcome. 

Related: Find zoos, botanical gardens, and nature centers in the New York metro region.

2)   Old favorites: Zoo officials knew better than to mess with the giant climbable rope spider web or the prairie dog tunnels kids from which kids love popping up. The giant slide, the climb-through log, the turtle shells-- they’re all still there, much to my kids’ delight.