New York City Attractions

Venue: Bronx Zoo - Wildlife Conservation Park    When: Daily

The Bronx Zoo is home to more than 4000 animals, including some of the world's most endangered species. With 265 wooded acres devoted to spacious naturalistic habitats, it is the largest metropolitan wildlife conservation park in the United States. Visitors can take an around-the-world-trip, from Africa to the Himalayas, without leaving the Bronx.

The prime attraction has to be the US$30 million Congo Gorilla Forest, where visitors can see lowland gorillas (an endangered species), another 300 different types of animals and thousands of specially-chosen plants which can survive a New York winter while resembling the African jungle.

Further attractions include JungleWorld, an indoor rainforest inhabited by Asian gibbons, hornbills and tapirs, and the Himalayan Highlands, where you can spot elusive and endangered snow leopards, fiery red pandas and white-naped cranes. A recent addition is Tiger Mountain, which puts you just a (safe!) whisker away from the largest member of the cat family. If your feet are aching, jump on the Wild Asia Monorail(May to October) and travel through the forests and paddies of Asia. As you slowly glide by, you'll pass elephants, rhinos, rare sika deer, antelope and Siberian tigers roaming in an open, outdoor habitat.

In the special education zone, children get to climb a spider's web, crawl through a prairie dog tunnel, try on a turtle half-shell or escape like a lizard down a hollow tree. Petting and feeding domestic animals is part of the fun, too. Animal feeding time is at 10am or 2pm (the crocodiles are especially cool to watch).

If you're not too exhausted, turn day into night at the World of Darkness, a nocturnal exhibit that gives you a special "night view" of secretive leopard cats, cloud rats, fruit-eating bats and a subterranean naked mole-rat colony. And that's not all! In fact you've hardly started, with the World of Birds, the World of Reptiles, the Skyfari, a trip to Wild Asia and the African Plains habitats all awaiting your visit.