Children's Zoo

The Children's Zoo is a dedicated section within the Bronx Zoo designed specifically for young visitors — a place within the larger park that feels appropriately scaled, less overwhelming, and more physically interactive than the main exhibits.

The centerpiece is the prairie dog habitat with its unique viewing feature: transparent tubes that children crawl through to emerge inside a bubble dome within the prairie dog enclosure. Prairie dogs approach, sniff, and investigate the clear dome while children watch from inside their space. The experience collapses the typical zoo-visitor distance and gives young children a perspective of genuine closeness with wild animals.

The farmyard section houses domestic animals — goats, sheep, and smaller livestock — in an accessible open environment where children can observe at close range. Unlike the hands-off approach of most zoo exhibits, the Children's Zoo is designed to let children have sensory encounters with animals in a supervised setting.

For families visiting the Bronx Zoo with a toddler and an older child, the Children's Zoo solves a common logistics problem: it gives the 3-year-old a satisfying experience while the 8-year-old is still warming up. Many families visit the Children's Zoo first, then split their time between Tiger Mountain and the Congo Gorilla Forest as the day progresses.

The Children's Zoo is included in general Bronx Zoo admission. No separate ticket is required. It's open the same hours as the main zoo — 10 AM to either 4:30 or 5:30 PM depending on the season.