Tours for Conservation Level Members

New guided tours of the Bronx Zoo for Conservation Supporter, Fellow, Partner, and Patron Members!

Explore the zoo with the Friends of the Zoo, our knowledgeable docents. Each tour lasts approximately one and a half hours. Groups may bring an extra child without charge as long as prior arrangements are made.

If you are not currently a Conservation level Member and you are interested in taking a tour, you can join or renew your Membership now, to any Conservation level. Your upgraded benefits will start right away. You’ll have a full 12 months, plus the remaining time on your existing Membership, to enjoy your new Conservation level benefits.

Pre-registration is required. Please contact Membership at 718-741-8216, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday–Friday.

Schedule

Date of Tour	Time	Tour	Meeting Place	Registration Deadline
Sun., May 31	10:30 a.m.	Congo Gorilla Forest	Congo Gorilla Forest	Mon., May 18
Sat., June 13	10:30 a.m.	Predators/Prey	Somba Village	Mon., June 1
Sun., June 28	10:30 a.m.	JungleWorld	JungleWorld	Mon., June 15
Sat., July 11	10:30 a.m.	Lions, Tigers, and Bears!	Tiger Mountain	Mon., June 29
Sun., July 26	10:30 a.m.	Endangered Species!	Tiger Mountain	Mon., July 13
Sat., Aug 15	10:30 a.m.	Adaptations	Zoo Center	Mon., Aug 3
Sun., Aug 30	10:30 a.m.	Predators/Prey	Somba Village	Mon., Aug 17
Sun., Sep 13	10:30 a.m.	Congo Gorilla Forest	Congo Gorilla Forest	Mon., Aug 31
Sat., Sep 26	10:30 a.m.	JungleWorld	JungleWorld	Mon., Sep 14
Sun., Oct 11	10:30 a.m.	Congo Gorilla Forest	Congo Gorilla Forest	Mon., Sep 28
Sat., Oct 25	10:30 a.m.	Endangered Species	Tiger Mountain	Mon., Oct 12
Sun., Nov 8	10:30 a.m.	JungleWorld	JungleWorld	Mon., Oct 27

Tours subject to change. In case of inclement weather, another tour may be substituted.

Tour Descriptions

Congo Gorilla Forest

Nearly 400 African forest creatures, representing 55 wildlife species, make their home in our 6.5-acre Congo Gorilla Forest. New York City will fade away as you stroll beneath the thick canopy of leaves, through sprays of mist, past sunny meadows and thickets of bamboos, and up to treetop lookouts.

Along the trail, you’ll encounter our two troops of western lowland gorillas. You can get up close to rambunctious youngsters, their watchful mothers, and male leaders known as “silverbacks.”

Other creatures that live in this lush, green forest include black and white colobus monkeys, mandrills and DeBrazza’s monkeys, and shy okapis. A busy family of Wolf’s guenons and a group of pygmy marmosets, the world’s smallest monkeys, also await your visit. Tours meet at Congo Gorilla Forest entrance.

Predators/Prey of the African Plains

Trek past lions, gazelles, giraffes, wild dogs, and zebras on a typical African savanna. This tour focuses on the relationship between predators and the animals they prey on by exploring the physical adaptations that make predators such stealthy hunters, and the defenses that prey animals use to avoid them! Join us on a safari as we explore the complex relationship between the animals of the African Plains. It’s as close to the Serengeti as you can get in the Bronx!

Then head up to the Ethiopian highlands—the zoo’s stunning slice of “African Alps.” This habitat ranks among the largest primate exhibits in the U.S. On its grassy slopes, gelada baboons graze and romp alongside Nubian ibexes, rock hyraxes, and African waterfowl. Tours meet at Somba Village.

JungleWorld

Transport yourself to the tropics! Inside our Asian jungle, the warm air is just right for small-clawed otters, white-cheeked gibbons, and a Malayan tapir, among nearly 800 other critters that live in mangroves and beaches, sharing their homes just as they would in the wild.

On this tour, you’ll also meet two troops of monkeys—ebony and silvered langurs, as well as tree kangaroos, fruit bats, black leopards, tropical birds, toads, snakes, and more.

The tropics are a mysterious place. While more than 90 percent of all the world’s species of plants and animals live there, only half are known to science! Behind JungleWorld’s tangle of vines, you’ll unlock some of the rainforest’s best-kept secrets and learn how we can ensure their protection. Tours meet at JungleWorld.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears! Oh, My!

Visit some of the zoo’s “greatest hits”—African lions, grizzly and polar bears, and Amur tigers. We’ll make three stops: Tiger Mountain, African Plains, and Big Bears.

At Tiger Mountain, you’ll go nose-to-nose with big cats at our award-winning, three-acre home for Amur tigers. An open viewing shelter set deep in a recreated corner of the beautiful Amur Valley on the Russian-Chinese border will get you very close to these stars in stripes.

Then, we’ll head to a high ridge of natural rock where the zoo’s grizzly and polar bears live. These big bears deserve their big reputations! Our charismatic grizzlies, Betty and Veronica, enjoy splashing about in swimming holes, or napping in their cozy dens. The polar bears love a dip in the pool—especially when it’s hot.

Finally, we’ll trek over to African Plains and Baboon Reserve, where you can meet some of Africa’s most magnificent creatures, including lions, gazelles, and gelada baboons. Tours meet at Tiger Mountain.

Endangered Species

Want to learn more about threatened species, imperiled habitats, and how you can help protect the last of the wild? This is the tour for you. Our knowledgeable guides will help you understand why wildlife conservation is so important, the causes of species loss, and what individuals can do. The tour includes a stop at Himalayan Highlands, home to endangered snow leopards and red pandas. Tours can be tailored to cover various exhibits and animals of greatest interest to the group. Tours meet at Tiger Mountain.

Adaptations

Whether they make their homes on the frozen tundra, in a mild evergreen forest, or in a scorching desert, all animals are uniquely adapted to their habitats. This tour will examine the differences in animal anatomy and social structure that explain their diets, behaviors, and life cycles, as well as why they are best suited to a particular environment.

You’ll learn how giraffes use their long necks and tongues, why three lions are better than one, and how white-naped cranes find meals in the mud. Tours stop at Big Bears, Himalayan Highlands, Baboon Reserve, and African Plains. Tours meet at Zoo Center.