Back to T.R.
Centennial Site
Bronx Zoo
185th Street and Southern Boulevard
Bronx, NY 10460
(718) 720-5197Theodore Roosevelt was an avid conservationist. Along with 10 other people of various professions, he founded and was president of the Boone and Crockett Club. The club's mission was to spotlight its members' beliefs about the "unsportsmanlike" abuse of wildlife. In particular, they objected to the abuse and slaughter of large game animals, such as deer. Additionally, they advocated the creation of the world's largest zoological park, where the animals could live and reproduce in situations as close as possible to their natural habitats.
In 1895, the New York Zoological Society was founded with the purpose of encouraging and advancing the study of zoology, original researches in the same and kindred subjects, and of furnishing instruction and recreation for the people. The Bronx Zoo opened it doors to the public on Nov. 8, 1899. The zoo's 265 acres of woods, ponds and streams are home to more than 6,000 animals, including tigers, rhinoceros, antelope, exotic deer and elephants, and 612 species, some of which are rare and on the endangered species list. In 1998 there were 292 births and hatchlings at the Bronx Zoo. The annual attendance is about 2 million.
Today, the original site in the Bronx remains the headquarters for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The WCS has developed the most comprehensive elementary and secondary school programs for urban children of any comparable institution in the United States. The zoo's "World of Birds" building contains a tropical rainforest, while lions and antelope inhabit the "African Plains" and gibbons, monkeys and water monitors live in "Wild Asia's Jungle World."
For additional information, including visiting hours and guided tours, call (718) 367-1010.