Brooklyn's Backyard: Prospect Park Zoo

A few months ago I shared one of my favorite buildings, the boathouse in Prospect Park. We arrived to early to go inside, we decided to take a detour and visit the zoo.

I knew it had been renovated and gets good reviews but haven't been inside for ages so I wasn't sure what to expect. I can confirm its completely adorable - perfect for the young and young at heart. Well designed, compact enough for little feet but with enough interesting animals.

The entrance had a huge wire sculpture of a dinosaur...

that just happened to have a nest of baby birds inside. Not sure if that was planted or happened by accident but it was fitting.

Am I the only person who thought a black swan was purely a economical theory term? Evidently not.

There is a great little seal feeding show they do multiple times a day. All the kids loved it.

They have an indoor "monkey" house that has a collection of small animals that totally won my heart. It was really dark in there and the animals were behind glass so I didn't take any photos but there were a pair of Pallas cats that I just wanted to take home with me.

And the highlight of cuteness was a red panda that appeared to just be waiting for me to arrive. We stared at this thing for entirely too long. And then at some point he stuck his tongue out of at us as if to say 'yea, im even cuter this way. deal with it.' I was just completely enthralled with its cuddliness. (Is that a word?) I'm fairly certain the only thing that could be more adorable than a red panda is a baby red panda. I will have to find one to do some scientific comparisons.

This zoo brought out the true juvenile in me. So much so that I was compelled to make this for your viewing pleasure.

I dare you not to fall in love with him!

So that was our detour to the Prospect Park Zoo. The most darling area in Brooklyn by far.

If you want to see some more of my fine borough, you can check out some of my prior posts here or read my one day tourist's guide to Brooklyn.