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The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and the largest Metropolis zoo, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats separated by the Bronx River. The zoo has 2.1 million average yearly visitors . The zoo's original buildings, known as Astor Court, were designed as a series of Beaux-Arts grouped around the large circular sea lion pool. The Rainey Memorial Gates were designed by sculptor Paul Manship in 1934 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The zoo opened on November 8, 1899, featuring 843 animals in 22 exhibits. Its first director was William Temple Hornaday, who served for 30 years. From its inception the zoo has played a vital role in animal conservation. In 1905, the American Bison Society was created in an attempt to save the American bison, which had been depleted from tens-of-millions of animals to only a few hundred, from extinction. Two years later they were successfully reintroduced into the wild. In 2007, the zoo successfully reintroduced three Chinese alligators into the wild. The breeding was a milestone in the zoo's 10-year effort to reintroduce the species to the Yangtze River in China.
The Bronx Zoo is world-renowned for its large and diverse animal collection, and its award-winning exhibitions. The zoo is part of an integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and it is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
The zoo (sometimes called the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) opened its doors to the public on November 8, 1899, featuring 843 animals in 22 exhibits. Its first director was William Temple Hornaday, who had 30 years of service at the zoo.
Heins & LaFarge designed the original permanent buildings, known as Astor Court, as a series of Beaux-Arts grouped around the large circular sea lion pool. In 1934, the Rainey Memorial Gates, designed by sculptor Paul Manship, were dedicated as a memorial to noted big game hunter Paul James Rainey. The gates were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The Rockefeller Fountain, which today adorns the gardens just inside the Fordham Road Gate, was once a landmark in Como, Italy. Originally built by Biagio Catella in 1872, it stood in the main square (Piazza Camillo Benso) by the lakeside. Bought by William Rockefeller in 1902 for Italian lira 3,500 (the estimated equivalent then of $637, and today of around $17,600), it was installed at the zoo in 1903. In 1968, the fountain was designated an official New York City landmark, and is one of the few local monuments to be honored in this way.
The New York Zoological Society's seal was designed by famed wildlife artist Charles R. Knight. It depicted a Bighorn sheep head and an eagle to reflect the society's interest in preserving North American wildlife. While no longer in use, the seal can still be found on the lawn in the center of Astor Court.
On December 17, 1902, the zoo became one of the seven zoos outside of Australia, and one of only two in the United States, to ever hold the extinction thylacine. The first was a male obtained from German animal dealer Carl Hagenbeck. It died on August 15, 1908. The zoo received a second male on January 26, 1912, from the Beaumaris Zoo in Tasmania, who later died on November 20 of that year. The zoo received its final two animals from Sydney animal dealer Ellis S. Joseph. The first was an unsexed individual who arrived on November 7, 1916, in poor condition and died seven days later. The second and final animal was a female purchased from the Beaumaris Zoo by Joseph for £25 (~$35) and then was resold to the zoo, arriving on July 14, 1917. On a visit, the director of the Melbourne Zoo, Mr. Le Souef, said upon seeing the animal:
The thylacine died on September 13, 1919.
In early 1903, the zoo was gifted a pair of , a subspecies which is extinct in the wild. The female was named Bedouin Maid and male Sultan, who went on to become one of the zoo's most popular animals. Displayed in the Lion House, Sultan was four years old at the time and described as being both "a perfect specimen" and "unusually good tempered". In May 1903, the pair produced three cubs, the first to be born at the zoo. On October 7, 1905, Charles R. Knight painted a portrait of Sultan and the animal went on to be the focus of many of the zoo's . Sultan was also the model for the lion which sits atop the Rainey Memorial Gates.
In 1906, the Bronx Zoo put Ota Benga, a young Mbuti people man from the Congo, on display along with monkeys and a bow and arrow. He was never returned home and later died of suicide at age 33.
In 1916, the zoo built the world's first animal hospital located at a zoo.
In 1926, the Bronx Zoo and the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoological Park simultaneously became the first in the country to exhibit .
The same year, W. Douglas Burden, F. J. Defosse, and Emmett Reid Dunn collected two live adult —the first in America—for the zoo.
In 1937, the zoo became the first in North America to exhibit okapi.
The zoo was one of the few in the world to exhibit outside of Southeast Asia and, in the 1976 International Zoo Yearbook, the zoo reported having eight monkeys, seven of which were born at the zoo. As of March 1999, it only had two monkeys left, these two being the last members of their species kept in the United States. In 2003, the pair were sent to the Singapore Zoo.
On June 6, 1990, the zoo received a female Sumatran rhinoceros named Rapunzel. At the time, the zoo was one of only three in North America to hold the critically endangered species, with the Cincinnati Zoo and San Diego Zoos being the others, holding one female each. The three institutions were a part of the Sumatran Rhino Trust's plan to start a captive breeding program for the species. Rapunzel was born in the wild in Sumatra and rescued from an area of rainforest that was slated to be cleared for a palm oil plantation in 1989. Though it's believed she bred in the wild, she never produced any calves in captivity. It was eventually determined that she was past reproductive age, at which point she was returned to the zoo in 2000, having been brought out for breeding purposes. She lived in the Zoo Center until her death in December 2005 in her 30s.
In November 2006, the zoo opened up brand-new eco-friendly restrooms outside the Bronx River Gate. According to Clivus Multrum, which built the composting toilets chosen by the zoo, these facilities can serve 500,000 people and save of water a year.
In March 2007, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Fordham University Graduate School of Education announced they would offer a joint program leading to a Master of Science degree in education and New York State initial teacher certification in adolescent science education (biology, grades 7–12). The program began the next year, and is the first joint degree program of its kind.
In 2009, New York City cut funding for the state's 76 zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens. The Wildlife Conservation Society as a whole suffered a $15-million deficit, and the zoo was forced to downsize its staff and animal collection. The budget cuts forced the of over 100 employees and of dozens more as well as the closure of four sections of the zoo: World of Darkness, Rare Animal Range, the Skyfari, and a small section of the overall still-open African Plains exhibit which featured endangered antelope. In the end, 186 staff positions (15%) were cut within the WCS. In 2012, Mayor Michael Bloomberg passed another budget cut that took $4.7-million from the funding of the zoo and the New York Aquarium, also run by the WCS. This cut represented more than half of what the collections were receiving. However, Bloomberg also passed an energy subsidy that brought the cuts down to $3.7-million.
In the summer of 2014, New York Representative Carolyn B. Maloney visited the Chengdu Panda Base in Sichuan, China and announced her plan to bring to New York City. Initially, she aimed to exhibit them at the Central Park Zoo, though switched her attention to the Bronx after deciding the 6.5-acre zoo didn't have the resources to care for the animals. Maloney and her supporters, which included Maurice R. Greenberg, Newt Gingrich, and John A. Catsimatidis, were met with many obstacles throughout their campaign. Initially, the largest issues were the lack of support from Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Hall, and Chinese officials insisting that no more pandas be brought to the United States. However, in October 2015, Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai announced that his country was willing to enter preliminary talks with the city over the matter, and soon after de Blasio and City Hall signed a letter appealing to Chinese officials, drafted by Maloney in 2014. Despite her efforts, Maloney's campaign still has yet to overcome two critical steps in acquiring pandas: funding and the zoo's consent. Both de Blasio and the Wildlife Conservation Society refuse to fund the project, not wanting taxpayer or vital zoo money to go towards the highly expensive project. David Towne, chairman of the American-based Giant Panda Conservation Foundation, estimated that the cost of bringing pandas to the city would be around $50 million.
The foundation has also said that the cost of keeping just one such animal is about $1 million a year, including food, trainers, and habitat upkeep. Additionally, China loans out their pandas for a hefty fee. A study published by The Washington Post in 2005 found that the four U.S. zoos holding pandas—the Memphis Zoo, the San Diego Zoo, the National Zoological Park (located in Washington, D.C., and Front Royal, Virginia) and Zoo Atlanta—had spent $33 million more on their animals than revenue made off of them between 2000 and 2003. Despite the figures, Maloney believes pandas in her city will do better since the city has a higher population than those four cities combined, and received a record-breaking 56.4-million visitors in 2014. Still, the WCS continues to steer away from bringing in these pandas. In 2014, a senior official from the WCS said Maloney's campaign had reached "a new level of absurdity" when it was announced she intended to bring a Chinese delegation to the Central Park Zoo. In November 2015, Jim Breheny, WCS Executive Vice President and Bronx Zoo Director, released a statement saying:
/ref> Small aviaries featuring small bird species can be found nearby and white-headed capuchins can be seen behind the old Monkey House.
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Astor Court's buildings as a city landmark in 2000, after a failed attempt to do so in 1966.
The Carter Giraffe Building, a section of African Plains, features indoor/outdoor viewing of the zoo's giraffes and South African ostriches, and is also home to common dwarf mongooses, Von der Decken's hornbills, and northern white-faced owls. In June 2009, two imported from Tanzania joined the exhibit. In September 2010, the pair gave birth to a male named Hoover, the first to ever be born at the zoo.
Until 2009, the southwestern corner of African Plains was home to the endangered Arabian oryx and blesbok. Due to budget cuts and the unpopularity of the species with visitors, they were phased-out of the collection. This section of the exhibit is replaced by the Nature Trek. In 2017 they received two baby from the San Diego Zoo. Cheetahs are now part of their animal encounter programs. "Unique Experiences" . Bronx Zoo. Wildlife Conservation Society. Retrieved February 19, 2018. They were replaced by the hyenas.
Until 2015, two female grizzly bears named Betty and Veronica also lived in this exhibit, but moved to the Central Park Zoo where they died in 2020 and 2021.
The zoo also formerly housed until the last individual, a 26-year-old male named Tundra died in December 2017. Three from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park were added to the habitat in 2019.
Before the late 1980s, this place replaced a lawn of .
The zoo is one of only three zoos in North America working with the endangered storks and has bred them several times, including the hatching of two chicks on June 27 and August 15, 2015. The Aquatic Bird House is also home to another endangered stork species: the Storm's stork. The zoo is one of only two in the United States working with this species; the other being the San Diego Zoo. In May 2014, the zoo opened a new nocturnal enclosure for a North Island brown kiwi in the building, and in May 2015, a colony of Australian little penguins from the Taronga Zoo were added.
The exhibit won the AZA Exhibit Award in 2004. The zoo has had good breeding successful with both subspecies of tiger, having bred both in 2010. Another set of Siberian tiger cubs were born in 2012, and a pair of Malayan tiger cubs were born in 2016. One of the tiger cubs named Nadia tested positive for COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, but have since recovered from the disease. Across from the entrance to Tiger Mountain, a large herd of Père David's deer and a pair of can be found.
Before 2003, this part of the area was once Wolf Wood, and includes a pack of wolves.
The building was originally designed as the zoo's Elephant House and has held all three elephant species over its history. The building has also been home to various rhinoceros species, hippopotamus, Bactrian camel, Malayan tapir and North Sulawesi babirusa. The building also held Rapunzel, one of the few held in U.S. zoos, until her death in 2005.
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There are nine premium exhibit attractions:
The structure, costing $500,000, is the precursor for a future permanent House of Invertebrates in the Monkey House near the Fordham Road entrance. Many species come from the New York metropolitan area, and all species of butterfly and are from around the continent. If not successful, the Oklahoma City Zoo would have purchased it in September 1997. Exhibits Aflutter At the Bronx Zoo;Butterfly Tent Will Allow Visitors To Mingle With Winged Residents , The New York Times. By Douglas Martin. Published: May 23, 1996
Before the Butterfly Garden opened, this was where the Great Ape House was located, and it was once home to , , , and through the exhibit's history.
The Congo Gorilla Forest was opened in 1999 and was visited 7,000,000 times . In one of the largest breeding groups of western lowland gorillas in North America, the exhibit has two troops of gorillas, for a total of 19 gorillas. Since 1999, 14 , 23 red river hogs, 11 Wolf's guenons, and four have been born in the exhibit. There is also an 8-minute film in the middle of the exhibit, as well as viewing points throughout. In total, there are about 400 animals from 55 species. Over $10.6 million for conservation of Central African habitats has been collected in donations since the exhibit's opening, and the exhibit has netted $12.5 million in exhibit fees .
Before the Congo Gorilla Forest was constructed, this site was once South America, and it is known to house pygmy hippopotamuses, , , , , , , brocket deer, and peccary.
Planning for JungleWorld, in the southeastern Wild Asia portion of the zoo, was started in 1977 and completed at a cost of $9.5 million in June 1985. $4.1 million in funds were donated by Enid A. Haupt, a member of the New York Zoological Society's board of trustees. The building is the largest at the zoo with an area of and a height of . There is a wooden path that meanders for .
The building's design integrates its environment with the path, as no bars are present in the building; the walkway has no full-height barriers and short railings; and only by means of ravines, streams, or cliffs are most of the animals separated from people and each other. There is a volcano scrub forest, a mangrove swamp, a lowland Evergreen forest rain forest with giant trees which merges into a mountain rain forest and five museum-like galleries connecting and explaining the habitats.
This ride takes visitors through a area that recreates the mud wallows and pastures, forests and riverbanks of Asia. Visitors will see , , rhinos and wild horses in their natural habitats. As the monorail travels along the Bronx River, visitors can see native animals including , , and . The monorail is accessible for wheelchairs up to 26 inches (66 cm) wide. Smaller chairs are available at the monorail platform for visitors with wider wheelchairs or motorized scooters.
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While most of the species left the zoo when the exhibit closed, the Formosan sika deer were moved to the Wild Asia Monorail and the Père David's deer remained in their primary enclosure across from Tiger Mountain while the blue-eyed black lemurs were moved to Madagascar! where they are rotated with the Coquerel's sifakas. While no longer at the zoo, pied ruffed lemurs can still be seen at the zoo's partner institute, the Central Park Zoo. The zoo's popular Dinosaur Safari ran through a part of this area and the zoo's yearly Run for the Wild event runs through its entirety.
On April 20, 2024, the Animal Chronicles opened in honor of the 125th Anniversary of the Bronx Zoo. it features 13 scenes of 68 animal eco-sculptures that showcase key achievements in the zoo's 125 year history of saving animal species and connecting visitors to wildlife.
Some of the primates that were in the now-closed exhibit have been moved to other parts of the zoo, such as the cotton-top tamarins now being found in World of Birds; others were sent to other New York City zoos, such as the sakis being moved to the Central Park Zoo. White-headed capuchins can still be seen in an outdoor cage behind the building.
While none of these species are currently on-exhibit at the zoo, the Puerto Rican crested toads can be seen at the Central Park Zoo, which breeds this species for reintroduction back into Puerto Rico.
The words: "The Most Dangerous Animal in the World" were printed in red on top of a cage. Behind the bars of the cage there was a mirror. The exhibit was reportedly still at the zoo in 1981.
The event takes participants through the zoo before opening hours, starting at the Bronx River Parkway Entrance, through the Asian Plaza and African Plains, and ending by the Rockefeller Fountain near Astor Court. The trail also takes runners through the now-closed section of the zoo where the Rare Animal Range once stood. Each year, the event focuses on a specific endangered species or animal group to help raise funds for: 2009's run was for , 2010 focused on , 2011 helped raise funds to protect the Punta Tombo peninsula of Argentina for Magellanic penguins, 2012 focused on , both 2013 and 2014 focused on , 2015 once again was for gorillas, and 2016's run will allow participants to run on behalf of their favorite animal.See:
In 2011, another WCS institute, the New York Aquarium, held its own Run for the Wild event for in early October. The 5k run began at the aquarium and led down the Riegelmann Boardwalk on Coney Island. The aquarium held a second run the following year for . The event has not returned to the aquarium since.
In 2005, the Wildlife Conservation Society resurrected and re-purposed the ABS to, "help build the social and scientific foundations for the ecological restoration of bison", and, "restore bison ecologically, not just animals in pens but actual functioning animals in the larger landscape", (Keith Aune, WCS bison coordinator). According to a study published in 2012, virtually all wild and captive bison in the United States are hybrids with Domestic cattle genes, with the exception of the two distinct breeding populations within Yellowstone National Park and their descendants. The cattle genes entered the bison population due to private ranchers hybridizing their bison to make them more docile, with some of these animals being accidentally reintroduced by the ABS. In response, in the fall of 2011, the WCS arranged for a herd of female bison originating from the American Prairie Reserve to be sent to the Colorado State University's Animal Reproduction & Biotechnology Laboratory to be used as Surrogacy in an attempt to Embryo transfer the fertilized embryos of genetically pure bison. After an ultrasound showed one female to be pregnant, the herd was moved to the zoo where, on June 20, 2012, the calf was born. The herd is kept in an off-exhibit section of the zoo and the goal is to eventually create a breeding herd of genetically pure bison through embryo transfers with the surrogate hybrid bison.
In 1981, the zoo successfully implanted a gaur embryo into a Holstein cow in an attempt to clone the endangered species.
In 1990, the zoo experienced a pest problem with the Canada goose. The park had become so over-crowded with the geese, that the zoo had to take action to decrease their numbers. Apart from their presence, the geese were very aggressive towards other birds and occasionally carried diseases into the park. To cope with the problem, the zoo hired a sharpshooter, who killed 19 geese. Zoo workers also destroyed 144 eggs found on the property. In 1991, the zoo employed a gentler method of sterilizing the birds.
In 2005, the zoo sent the frozen sperm of a male Indian rhinoceros to the Cincinnati Zoo where, four years later in 2009, it was thawed out and used in the first successful artificial insemination of the species when a calf was born in late 2010. The calf did not survive long-term.
In August 2006, the zoo adopted an orphaned snow leopard cub, named Leo. The 13-month-old cub was found stuck in mud following a landslide in Naltar Valley in Pakistan. The landslide had killed the cub's mother. A Pakistani shepherd in the area found the cub with its female sibling, but the female had died a week later due to malnutrition. He then handed over the male cub to Pakistani authorities to care for him. Since there are no captive breeding programs or rehabilitation centers for snow leopards in Pakistan, the authorities decided to send the cub to the Bronx Zoo. The cat will be returned to its place of birth following construction of a rehab facility in the Naltar Valley with cooperation from the United States.Bridges, William. Gathering of Animals: An Unconventional History of the New York Zoological Society. New York: Harper & Row, 1974. On April 9, 2013, Leo sired a cub. He was the first cub of Leo.
In 2007, the zoo successfully reintroduced three Chinese alligators into the wild. In July 2009, the zoo announced that the reintroduced alligators had begun breeding naturally in the wild, producing 15 hatchlings. The breeding was a milestone in the zoo's 10-year effort to reintroduce the species to the Yangtze River in China.
In January 2010, the zoo adopted four abandoned brown bear cubs. Three of the bears, two males and one female, were siblings born in 2009 and rescued from the ABC Islands in Alaska. The cubs were named Kootz, Denali, and Sitka. The fourth cub, a grizzly bear born in 2008, was rescued from Glacier National Park in Montana and named Glacier after the park. In 2015, two other rescued grizzly bears, who had been at the zoo since 1995, were sent to one of the zoo's partner institutions, the Central Park Zoo.
The next month, an "assurance colony" of Kihansi spray toads was placed in the zoo. The species disappeared in their native Tanzania home. http://www.bronxzoo.com/multimedia/headlines/kihansi-toad-exhibit.aspx
In February 2011, the zoo took in two that were rescued in Wyoming. The 5-year-old male was found in 2008 and was believed to have been hit by a car. The 3-year-old female was believed to have been injured during a storm. The birds were taken in by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and sent to the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey for evaluation and care, where it was decided they were unable to survive in the wild.
In December 2012, five Chinese yellow-headed box turtles, a critically endangered species, were born.
In December 2015, the zoo rescued a juvenile Indian cobra which had stowed away on a cargo ship destined for New Jersey. The snake was found in poor condition being dehydrated, cold, and exposed to oil residue. The animal was brought to the zoo for recovery. It's unclear how the snake got onto the ship since it set out from Singapore, which is outside of the species' natural range.
In 2010, the otters were relocated into two exhibits, one at the Children'
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In July 1957, a platypus named Penelope who had recently made headlines for faking a pregnancy disappeared, abandoning her mate, Cecil. Zookeepers searched the premises but found no evidence of her.
In February 1995, the zoo's De Jur Aviary collapsed during a snowstorm with about 100 seabirds, including and , inside. During the collapse, some of the residents flew off and escaped. In total, about 30 birds were lost.
On March 26, 2011, the Bronx Zoo announced that World of Reptiles was closed after a venomous adolescent cobra was discovered missing from its off-exhibit enclosure on March 25. Zoo officials were confident the missing cobra would be found in the building and not outside, since the species is known to be uncomfortable in open areas. The missing snake quickly sparked a popular Twitter parody account, @BronxZoosCobra, which narrated the daily hijinks of the cobra. On March 31, zoo authorities found the snake in a non-public area of the reptile house.
On May 9, 2011, a female green peafowl escaped from the zoo before being caught on May 11.
On September 11, 2011, a lesser kudu escaped from its enclosure for about half an hour and then returned to its enclosure once a zoo worker opened the gate.
On April 26, 2023, an Indian peafowl given the nickname Raul escaped from the zoo and reportedly bit a man, although those reports were never confirmed. Raul flew back into the zoo at 11:17a.m. the next day.
Despite the fact that elephants are highly social animals, the zoo decided that making a second attempt at introducing Happy to the others was too risky, with there being too high a chance that she would be attacked. She has since lived without the company of other elephants. Due to this, the zoo has been criticized by multiple animal rights organizations for supposedly mistreating Happy. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a formal complaint against the zoo with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), calling for them to strip the zoo of its accreditation. In Defense of Animals (IDA) has named the zoo the "Hall of Shame Winner" on their 2015, 2016, and 2017 'Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants'. IDA listed the zoo fourth on their 2012 list, fifth on their 2013 and 2014 lists, and eighth on their 2009 list. These organizations, as well as many (some of which gain up to 200,000 supporters), have called on the zoo to send Happy to an Wildlife refuge. However, the zoo said that moving her at this stage in her life might be potentially traumatizing for her, and that she has very strong bonds with her keepers and is well-adjusted to the zoo, where she has spent well over thirty years of her life.
In 2012, a reporter for the New York Post wrote that she is kept inside all year and in solitary confinement. The zoo claims that she and the other two elephants have equal access to outdoor yards, and that the three elephants have limited interactions with each other and extensive interactions with zoo keepers. All three animals share the same barn, but Happy lives in separate stalls and yards. In late 2018, one of the zoo's other elephants, Maxine, was euthanized due to complications with her liver and kidneys.
A lawsuit against the Bronx Zoo, stating that Happy was legally "a person with a right to be free", was dismissed in February 2020 by a judge of the Bronx County Supreme Court. However, in May 2021, the New York Court of Appeals agreed to hear the appeal, filed on behalf of Happy by the Nonhuman Rights Project. In June 2022, the Court of Appeals also ruled in favor of the zoo, saying in a 5–2 decision that the Habeas corpus did not apply to nonhuman animals.
Hornaday considered the exhibit a valuable spectacle for visitors; he was supported by Madison Grant, secretary of the New York Zoological Society, who lobbied to put Benga on-display alongside at the zoo. A decade later, Grant became prominent nationally as a racial anthropologist and eugenics.
African-American clergymen immediately protested to zoo officials about the exhibit. James H. Gordon said, "Our race, we think, is depressed enough, without exhibiting one of us with the apes ... We think we are worthy of being considered human beings, with souls." Gordon also thought the exhibit was hostile to Christianity and a promotion of Darwinism: "The Darwinian theory is absolutely opposed to Christianity, and a public demonstration in its favor should not be permitted." A number of clergymen backed Gordon. In defense of the depiction of Benga as a lesser human, an editorial in The New York Times suggested:
Benga was allowed to roam the grounds of the zoo. In response to the situation, as well as verbal and physical prods from the crowds, he became more mischievous and somewhat violent. Around this time, Rev. Dr. R. MacArthur of Calvary Baptist Church, was quoted in The New York Times saying: "It is too bad that there is not some society like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. We send our missionaries to Africa to Christianize the people, and then we bring one here to brutalize him." Soon, the zoo removed Benga from the grounds.Quoted by NPR at From the Belgian Congo to the Bronx Zoo , September 8, 2006, Retrieved May 29, 2015 Toward the end of 1906, Benga was released into Reverend Gordon's custody. Gordon placed Benga in the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum, a church-sponsored orphanage in Brooklyn that Gordon supervised. As the unwelcome press attention continued, in January 1910, Gordon arranged for Benga's relocation to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he lived with the family of Gregory W. Hayes. While there, Benga received tutoring from Lynchburg-based Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer.
Benga committed suicide in 1916 at the age of 32. In 2020, WCS apologized for the zoo's treatment of Benga and promotion of eugenics.
In 2013, So What? Press published an issue of its comic series Tales of the Night Watchman, entitled "The Night Collector", about a coven of vampires that takes over the bat exhibit at the Bronx Zoo. A zookeeper who specializes in bats is put at odds with his co-worker when it is discovered that the woman of their mutual affection has been turned into a vampire. It was written by Dave Kelly and illustrated by Lee Knox Ostertag.
In March 2016, Animal Planet announced plans to produce a docu-series about the zoo, titled The Zoo. The series premiered on February 18, 2017 and gained a second season in March 2018.
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