19 Rainy Day Reasons to Visit Bronx, Prospect Park, Central Park and Queens Zoos and the New York Aquarium

By Fran Hackett

New York, NY - The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo are basically one big umbrella. You can connect with nature and not get wet.

Check out these 19 activities:

At Bronx Zoo:
1. Practice indoor exhibit photography.
2. Visit Congo Gorilla Forest celebrating its 10-year anniversary, then head to Dancing Crane Plaza for arts and crafts hosted by the Museum for African Art, under shelter. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about the Democratic Republic of the Congo from teaching artists while participating in the arts of mask making, basket making, gourd adornment and beading. Workshops will take place 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Fridays and Saturday from June 19 – July 11. The scheduled times for each 20-minute workshop are: 11:00 am, 11:40 am, 1:00 pm, 1:40 pm, 2:20 pm, 3:00 pm and 3:40 pm;
3. Visit Madagascar!, an innovative, indoor Malagasy rainforest complete with baby lemurs and other interesting animals. This exhibit is celebrating its one-year anniversary;
4. Tiger Mountain: “Enrichment Sessions” happen every day (11:30 am, 1:30 & 3:30 pm, year-round. Additional session at 4:30 pm on weekends April-October). Our Wild Animal Keepers are ready and raring to go, rain or shine. Join our keepers to learn about these charismatic big cats.
5. The Dancing Crane Cafe has indoor seating with menu items to satisfy both little and big appetites.

At the New York Aquarium:
6. Most of the exhibits are indoors over an area of 14 acres – Explore the Shore has many educational, interactive exhibits;
7. Stay dry in the new 4D Experience: “Planet Earth: Shallow Seas”;
8. Visit Sea Cliffs with both above and below water viewing of wonderful animals such as penguins, sea otters, fur seals, and our wonderful baby walrus Akituusaq and his doting mom, Kulusiq;
9. Explore Alien Stingers, a wonderful world full of mysterious sea jellys;
10. Have a bite to eat in our SeaSide Café with both indoor and outdoor seating.

At Prospect Park Zoo:
11. Visit the indoor and outdoor exhibits of Animal Lifestyles and Animals in our Lives;
12. Keep dry while visiting animals like baboons, wallabies, meerkats, exotic parrots, red-eyed tree frogs, and lots more;
13. The indoor crafts area, open each day, allows kids to keep dry while creating animal arts and crafts.

At Central Park Zoo:
14. Stay dry in the zoo's indoor Rain Forest, a beautiful habitat home to lemurs, reptiles and an array of exotic birds;
15. Escape the humidity by visiting the zoo's air-conditioned penguin exhibit;
16. Do some shopping in the Zootique, which sells clothing, jewelry, toys and lots of animal-themed products for kids and adults;

At Queens Zoo:
17. Kids and adults can stay dry by visiting the zoo's indoor, interactive Discovery Room (open weekends, 11 am to 3 pm);
18. Stay dry and visit the thick-billed parrots;
19. Take cover at the coyote exhibit.

The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth.

To view Bronx Zoo's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to: http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-91-Bronx_Zoo
To view New York Aquarium's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to: http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-41-New_York_Aquarium
To view Prospect Park Zoo's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to: http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-199-Prospect_Park_Zoo
To view Central Park ZOo's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to: http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-198-Central_Park_Zoo
To view Queens Zoo's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to: http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-200-Queens_Zoo