By Vladimir Brezina and Johna Till Johnson
After more than 15 (Johna) and 20 (Vlad) years living in New York City (in Vlad’s case, just one block away from Central Park), we finally managed to visit the Central Park Zoo.
The Central Park Zoo was New York City’s first zoo, starting in 1859 as a menagerie of exotic animals given to the Park. (Nowadays, owners of exotic animals that have grown uncomfortably large for small New York City apartments are too impatient for donation: they simply dump the animals in the Park—that’s how we get alligators in the sewers…) The zoo is small (6.5 acres) but manages to house a surprisingly large number of animals—we didn’t get to see even half of them—in “natural” enclosures, some of them walk-through, that do not feel at all cramped.
As it turns out, the Zoo’s inhabitants are some of the most quintessential New Yorkers: The birds and beasts embody all the characteristic New York attitudes, from vanity to boredom to slit-eyed suspicion.
In the Tropical Rainforest exhibit:
Look at my outfit!
"I'm too beautiful to stay awake!"
Exotic waterfowl:
"Aaaaay.... you lookin' at ME?"
So smooth...
Red Panda:
Good Morning!
The air is mighty... tasty!
Come on, stick your tongue out…
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.
.
.
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Zoe, the gracefully languid snow leopard (who is much more energetic playing in the snow in this video):
"Mmmm.... that was delightful!"
Yawn!!!
“WTF you looking at?!” Zoe suddenly caught sight of us, and we were very happy that a thick pane of glass separated us and her…
"Is that DINNER I see looking at me?"
The Zoo’s remaining, lonely (and reportedly deeply neurotic) polar bear, Gus, reminded us of a widower sleeping in the sun in Little Italy:
Wink, wink, blink, blink...
Yawn!!!
But you're never too old for proper grooming!
And last but not least, sea lions, three or four of them playing in the sea-lion pool, like buddies on the basketball courts in the Village:
They really are like big aquatic dogs…
"Yo, bro, what up?!"
The individual photos, and a few others, are here.
Vladimir Brezina (RIP) 
Johna Till Johnson
Wind Against Current 
Aww, reading about Gus’ heartache just about broke my heart too. xxx
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I know, sad isn’t it? And yet… such a common New York (and human) story….
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We’re not all that different. are we, we just have less fur and smaller teeth :)
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Yes… although see here (PDF download)—but that’s another post!
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That picture of Gus and Ida
just seems so human, and very New York… In happier times—as they say in biographies that end badly (as they all do)—this could be a younger Walter Matthau, with a sweet young thing in his arms…
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Aww Vlad, I’m getting a little choked up here! xxx
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Appropriately…
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Great photos!! Really nice…
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Thanks, Robin! Now it’s onto (in reverse order) the 9/11 Memorial and the Circle Line cruise…
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Great photos and such fascinating creatures! The odd looking bird in your fifth photo is really intriguing.
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“So smooth…”? Not sure what kind of bird that was, precisely. I’ll have to go back and read the label :-)
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