The Prospect Park Zoo is located within Prospect Park in New York City. There’s a large amount of animals for how small of an area it is which is both intriguing but also worrying for the mental health of the animals.
The price to visit the zoo for the day is really cheap ($9.95) and as long as you stay inside the area your ticket isn’t time-limited. Though do make sure to visit before they start the sealion show as we did miss it unfortunately with how late we visited the zoo.
From the entrance of the zoo there’s a lot of peacocks roaming around- though you’re not allowed to pet them. They usually sleep as well around the area where you might be possible to take a selfie with the peacock in it like we had tried.
The zoo also has a great collection of flowers and other plants that create an exciting environment which is both inviting and also allows butterflies and other insects to be in the space as well which are just as amazing as the animals on show.
The area with the deer and birds is quite large compared to other spaces in the zoo which I found gives the animals a lot more space that are in there and is a lot less cruel than the ‘single rooms’ (see other photographs in the article).
I suggest coming earlier than 15:00 or 16:00 though due to how busy it is during that time and it was quite difficult to get a glance at an animal during this ‘rush’ period.
Review on Animal Welfare in the Prospect Park Zoo
They had paired some of the animals with another species (of which would pair well) which is great as it would reduce possible loneliness for the animal. The spaces looked moderately cleaned; though the windows for the enclosures sometimes looked very dirty and that would possibly have an effect on the wellbeing of the animal.
Unfortunately, there isn’t enough zoo staff to prevent people from harassing the animals- as I witnessed a few people banging the glass windows to the animals and making them visibly disturbed. This is something that should be improved especially as they make enough money to hire enough security for the area.
It does seem that the zoo takes the emulation of the animals natural habitats very seriously; but I couldn’t help but notice how depressed some of the marmosets looked. A lot of them were just not really moving much or had a very sad/depressed look on their face.
I don’t know the logistics but it would be nice if they could have a bit more space to roam as the rooms they’re held captive in feel more like cages at times.
Petting Zoo Review
The petting zoo in the Barn area was really great- you got to purchase animal feed and pet the animals which included goats, sheep and some cattle. The goats were especially friendly and very very popular at the zoo and we very much enjoyed feeding them!
The only downside at this area is that the food dispenser is cash only and as we’re moving towards a cashless society- it would be nice to have a card scanner at the machine as well.
The center of prospect park zoo is where they kept the sealions for the shows that they do- unfortunately, however, for us we had been late so we didn’t get to see it. You can also find the souvenir store and café as well- there’s a lot of interesting objects to purchase and buy (mostly plushies) but I picked up a wooden sculpture of a baboon while there.
Some of the jewelry they had on sale of gemstones looked and felt fake/more like plastic so I would advise against getting those while the café didn’t really feel like a café as you’d have to serve yourself.
Overall, I would recommend the experience a lot for anyone visiting NYC as it was extremely enjoyable despite the small size of the zoo. The staff were really friendly and the environment created a calming and exciting atmosphere. Despite the only drawbacks really being slight animal welfare issues- I would recommend visiting. I’d rate it a 3.5/5!