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Address:
One Franklin Park Road
Phone:
(617) 541-LION
Hours:
Apr-Sept,Mon-Fri:10am-5pm; Sat-Sun:10am-6pm; Oct-Mar, daily:10am-4pm; closed hol
Cost:
Adult: 6.00
Child: 3.00
Senior: 5.00
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Overview
Nestled in historic Franklin Park, the 'crown jewel' of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace Park System, Boston’s only urban zoo is home to more than 210 species of animals — from anacondas to zebras, butterflies to bats, giraffes to gorillas.
The Franklin Park Zoo is a center for wildlife conservation, education, and research. Many of the species on exhibit are highly endangered or threatened in the wild. Displays focus on spreading appreciation for the magnificent but fragile web of nature.
African wildlife exhibits include the Tropical Forest, one of the world’s largest indoor displays of Western Lowland Gorillas — now home to a baby gorilla born August 8, 1999! A walk through this simulated jungle also brings encounters with tropical birds, leopard, saddle-billed storks, warthogs, tapirs, and bats. You can find lions lazing in the Kalahari Kingdom and watch zebra and ostrich roam the grasslands of Bongo Congo.
Experience a continent of a different climate on the Australian Outback Trail, where wallabies, emus, cockatoo, and kangaroos make their home. And for a truly spectacular sight, pay an extra dollar to enter Butterfly Landing (open from late May through September), an enclosure filled with more than 1,000 of these aerodynamic wonders. There’s also a Children’s Zoo, where kids can have close encounters of the cuddly kind.
On weekends and holidays, May through October, visitors may take part in a 'Zoo Encounter.' Meet a zookeeper, naturalist, or horticulture specialist and delve deeper into understanding the wild world. Special tours, 'Wild Adventures,' and classroom programs are also available for a fee. Call (617) 989-2024 for full details.
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