Local Links for Biodiversity—Jersey City, NJ

Museums and Nature Centers:

Bergen County Zoological Park
216 Forest Ave
Paramus, NJ 07652-5349
Phone: 201-262-3771
This zoo is home to a wide variety of wild and domestic animals living in recreated habitats natural to each species. The zoo has many different species of birds, reptiles, and mammals, some of which are exotic and rare.

Bronx Zoo
2300 Southern Blvd
Bronx, NY 10460-1090
Phone: 718-220-5100
http://wcs.org/home/zoos/bronxzoo
As the largest metropolitan zoo in the nation, the Bronx Zoo contains more than 6,000 animals and many award-winning exhibits. The zoo’s new Congo Gorilla Forest allows visitors to get nose-to-nose with western lowland gorillas and to get involved in their protection.

Central Park Wildlife Center
830 5th Ave
New York, NY 10021-7001
Phone: 212-439-6513
http://wcs.org/home/zoos/centralpark
The Wildlife Center leads you through tropical, temperate, and polar habitats to encounter more than 130 species—from tremendous polar bears to tiny leafcutter ants. In the new Tisch Children’s Zoo, little animal lovers can meet a host of gentle creatures up close.

New York Aquarium
Boardwalk & W. 8th St
Brooklyn, NY 11224-2899
Phone: 718-265-340
http://wcs.org/home/zoos/nyaquarium
Situated on 14 acres by the sea on Coney Island, the New York Aquarium is home to more than 350 species of aquatic wildlife. The Aquarium continues its mission to raise public awareness about issues facing the ocean and its inhabitants with its special exhibits, public events, and research.

Prospect Park Zoo
450 Flatbush Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11225-3707
Phone: 718-399-7333
http://wcs.org/home/zoos/prospectpark
The zoo houses naturalistic habitats for animals and three major exhibit areas designed to engage children in learning about wildlife: The World of Animals, Animal Lifestyles, and Animals in Our Lives. The zoo’s education department offers year-round classes and programs for school groups and the general public.

Queens Wildlife Center
5351 111th St
Flushing, NY 11368-3301
Phone: 718-271-1500
http://wcs.org/home/zoos/queenswildlifecenter
The zoo perimeter is a pathway that leads visitors to pockets of wild habitats, from the Great Plains to the rocky California coast to a northeast forest. At home in these naturalistic settings are spectacular American species, such as American bison, mountain lions, Roosevelt elk, and more. The Queens Wildlife Center is also the only New York home to spectacled bears, endangered natives of the Andes Mountains.

Staten Island Zoo
614 Broadway
Staten Island, NY 10310-2896
Phone: 718-442-3101
http://www.statenislandzoo.org
Although the zoo does not have many large animals, it does have an extensive fish, invertebrate, reptile, and amphibian collection.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
1000 Washington Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Phone: 718-623-7200
http://www.bbg.org
Each year more than 750,000 people visit the more than 12,000 kinds of plants displayed on 52 acres and in the acclaimed Steinhardt Conservatory. The types of gardens and collections include bonsai, conservatory, display garden, herb, native plant, orchid, perennial, research, rose, and tropical.

American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY 10024-5192
Phone: 212-769-5000
http://www.amnh.org
The American Museum of Natural History offers virtually unlimited opportunities to explore all four corners of the globe. The museum stands out as one of the world's most important educational and cultural resources. The museum possesses the largest and finest collection of dinosaur fossils in the world. Other galleries feature permanent exhibits covering the following subjects, to name a few: Oceanic Birds, African Mammals, African Peoples, South American Peoples, North American Mammals, Eskimos, Minerals and Gems, Northwest Coast Indians, Meteorites, and New York State Environment.

The New York Botanical Garden
Bronx River Parkway at Fordham Road
Bronx, NY 10458
Phone: 718-817-8700
http://www.nybg.org
One of the oldest and largest botanical gardens in the world, The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is a museum of plants. This National Historic Landmark consists of 250 acres of grounds, including 48 gardens, 40 acres of the forest that once covered all of New York, and the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.