The Prospect Park Zoo is located on:

450 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, New York
Voice: 718-399-7339
Website: www.nyzoosandaquarium.com

The Prospect Park Zoo opened on October 5, 1993, becoming the fifth facility in Wildlife Conservation Society's unique network of wildlife parks in New York City.

Brooklyn's "new" zoo has a long history. First it was a menagerie, established in Prospect Park in the late 1800's. This collection of animals became the more formal Prospect Park Zoo on Flatbush Avenue that opened to the public on July 3, 1935.

As was the case with the Central Park Zoo, time and increased knowledge about the needs of zoo animals eventually made the Prospect Park Zoo obsolete. Through a partnership forged in the early 1980's with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, WCS agreed to renovate and manage a new zoo in Prospect Park.

Groundbreaking for the Prospect Park Zoo project occurred in August, 1989. Some architectural aspects of the old zoo were saved, but inhumane conditions that existed there were eliminated. Naturalistic habitat exhibits replaced bars, cages, and pits. And three major exhibit areas were designed to engage children, especially, in learning about wildlife: The World of Animals, Animal Lifestyles, and Animals in Our Lives.