Seneca Park Zoo is a 20-acre (6.3 ha) zoo located in the city of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...

. The zoo is home to over 90 species including mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, fish, and arachnids. It is accredited by the

Association of Zoos and Aquariums The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums ...

(AZA). The zoo is operated by Monroe County, with support from the Seneca Park Zoo Society. The zoo opened in 1894 in Seneca Park.

History

Seneca Park, designed by

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co-d ...

, is located on the border of the City of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

and the Town of Irondequoit, along the

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides ...

. The park was opened in 1893, and animals started being displayed in 1894. The first major addition to the zoo was the Main Zoo Building in 1931. The building was home to a wide variety of animals. The Seneca Park Zoo Society was chartered as an educational institution by New York State in 1957. Since that time, the Society has evolved into a non-profit organization that supports and promotes the zoo by running educational programs, special events, marketing and public relations efforts, fundraising for ''in situ'' wildlife conservation, and food and gift operations. The Society offers memberships that are very popular with area families. In 1975, a polar bear grotto was opened to house the zoo's two polar bears (Penny and Nickels), who had been acquired using pennies and nickels collected by local school children. In 1993, the zoo opened the $2 million Genesee Trail and Discovery Center—its first landscape immersion exhibit. This was followed in 1997 by the $8.2 million Rocky Coasts exhibit. On May 17, 2012, the zoo opened ''A Step Into Africa'', which was designed to replicate a portion of the

NgoroNgoro Crater The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (, ) is a protected area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Ngorongoro District, west of Arusha City in Arusha Region, within the Crater Highlands geological area of northern Tanzania. The area is n ...

in Tanzania. This section of the zoo houses African bush elephants,

olive baboon The olive baboon (''Papio anubis''), also called the Anubis baboon, is a member of the family Cercopithecidae Old World monkeys. The species is the most wide-ranging of all baboons, being native to 25 countries throughout Africa, extending fr ...

Southern African lion ''Panthera leo melanochaita'' is a lion subspecies in Southern and East Africa. In this part of Africa, lion populations are regionally extinct in Lesotho, Djibouti and Eritrea, and are threatened by loss of habitat and prey base, killing by l ...

s, and

domestic goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of t ...

In 2018, the zoo began making arrangements to demolish the Main Zoo Building as it no longer meets today's standards of animal welfare. On June 2, the zoo opened a Cold Asia portion, featuring a new exhibit for the zoo's

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus '' Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is es ...

s and bringing in

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...

s. During that same year, an extension of ''A Step Into Africa'' opened with a new home for the resident southern white rhinoceros, and will feature new animals like

Masai giraffe The Masai giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi'' or ''Giraffa tippelskirchi''), also spelled Maasai giraffe, and sometimes called Kilimanjaro giraffe, is a subspecies or species of giraffe. It is native to East Africa. The Masai giraff ...

plains zebra The plains zebra (''Equus quagga'', formerly ''Equus burchellii''), also known as the common zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south o ...

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There a ...

es, naked mole-rats,

rock hyrax The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the das ...

es,

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fres ...

chiclids, and many more. Animal species in collection ;Amphibians * African bullfrog * Borneo eared frog * Fire-bellied toad * Hellbender * Marine toad * Mueller’s clawed frog * Panamanian golden frog * Yellow and blue poison dart frog *

Yellow-banded poison dart frog The yellow-banded poison dart frog (''Dendrobates leucomelas''), also known as yellow-headed poison dart frog or bumblebee poison frog, is a poison dart frog from the genus ''Dendrobates'' of the family Dendrobatidae. Distribution and habitat ' ...

;Birds * African penguin *

Bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same nich ...

Buffalo weaver Ploceidae is a family of small passerine birds, many of which are called weavers, weaverbirds, weaver finches and bishops. These names come from the nests of intricately woven vegetation created by birds in this family. In most recent classifi ...

* Congo African grey parrot * Golden-breasted starling *

Red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members wit ...

* Rouen (Mallard) duck *Ostrich *

Sandhill crane The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on th ...

* Senegal parrot * Snow goose *

Snowy owl The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mos ...

* Speckled mousebird * Spotted dikkop * Superb starling *

Taveta golden weaver The Taveta weaver (''Ploceus castaneiceps''), also known as the Taveta golden weaver, is a species of bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae. It is found on the African savannah in Kenya and Tanzania. The name of the bird comes from the unique ma ...

;Coral * Bubble (or Grape) coral * Button mushroom coral * Candy coral * Frilly mushroom coral * Green leather coral * Hammer coral * Kenya tree coral * Star polyp * Tree leather coral ;Fish *

Banggai cardinalfish The Banggai cardinalfish (''Pterapogon kauderni'') is a small tropical cardinalfish in the family Apogonidae. It is the only member of its genus. This attractive fish is popular in the aquarium trade. It is among the relatively few marine fis ...

* Diamond goby * Flame hawkfish * Lake Malawi chichlid * Lake sturgeon *

Largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, b ...

* Ocellaris clownfish *

Percula clownfish The orange clownfish (''Amphiprion percula'') also known as percula clownfish and clown anemonefish, is widely known as a popular aquarium fish. Like other clownfishes (also known as anemonefishes), it often lives in association with sea anemones ...

* Yellow tang ;Invertebrates * Jade headed buffalo beetle * Madagascar hissing cockroach * Mombasa golden starburst tarantula * Rose bulb tip anemone *

Pacific cleaner shrimp The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

* Peppered cockroach * Rose Tarantula * Short-armed brittle star * Spiny sea urchin ;Mammals *African bush elephant * Amur tiger *

California sea lion The California sea lion (''Zalophus californianus'') is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of C ...

* Canada lynx *

Chinchilla Chinchillas are either of two species ('' Chinchilla chinchilla'' and '' Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha. They are slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels, and are native to the Andes m ...

*Domestic goat *

Domestic rat The fancy rat (''Rattus norvegicus domestica'') is the domesticated form of ''Rattus norvegicus'', the brown rat, and the most common species of rat kept as a pet. The name ''fancy rat'' derives from the use of the noun '' fancy'' for a hob ...

* Four-toed hedgehog *

Gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

*Masai giraffe *Naked mole-rat *

North American river otter The North American river otter (''Lontra canadensis''), also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that only lives on the North American continent, along its waterways and coasts. An adult North American ri ...

*Olive baboon *Plains zebra *Polar bear *

Raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight o ...

*Red panda *Rock hyrax *Snow leopard *Southern African lion * Southern three-banded armadillo *Southern white rhino' ;Reptiles * African bush viper * African pancake tortoise * Ball python *

Burmese python The Burmese python (''Python bivittatus'') is one of the largest species of snakes. It is native to a large area of Southeast Asia and is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Until 2009, it was considered a subspecies of the Indian python ...

* Dumeril's ground boa *

East African spiny-tailed lizard The East African armadillo lizard, dwarf sungazer, or tropical girdled lizard (''Cordylus tropidosternum'') is a species of arboreal or rupicolous (rock-dwelling) lizard endemic to East Africa. Habitat The preferred habitat of the East African a ...

* Giant day gecko * Great plated lizard * Henkel's leaf-tailed gecko * Madagascar tree boa *

New Caledonian crested gecko The crested gecko or eyelash gecko (''Correlophus ciliatus'') is a species of gecko native to southern New Caledonia. In 1866, the crested gecko was described by a French zoologist named Alphonse Guichenot. This species was thought extinct un ...

Red-eared slider The red-eared slider or red-eared terrapin (''Trachemys scripta elegans'') is a subspecies of the pond slider (''Trachemys scripta''), a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States ...

* Spotted turtle * Western rat snake

Exhibits

The Rocky Coasts exhibit opened in 1997. It is an area dedicated to animals of the polar and temperate coastal regions of the world, including African penguins, California sea lions, snowy owls, Canada lynx, and sandhill cranes. The exhibit includes an underwater viewing area which places visitors close to the sea lions swimming behind large glass windows. Giraffe and Zebra 2019 Wayne Smith

''A Step Into Africa ''was unveiled in 2012 and the exhibit includes a replica Maasai hut, Dig Zone for uncovering casts of fossils, interactive learning tools, and a stationary safari bus from which the zoo's African lions can be viewed. The area is home to the zoo's African bush elephants, olive baboons, and (Southern) African lions in naturalistic settings. Seneca Park Zoo is home to the first three African bush elephants in New York State. The zoo's animal collection changes periodically with AZA recommendations regarding breeding through the

Species Survival Plans The American Species Survival Plan or SSP program was developed in 1981 by the (American) Association of Zoos and Aquariums to help ensure the survival of selected species in zoos and aquariums, most of which are threatened or endangered in the w ...

(SSPs), animal deaths and births. The spring of 2013 proved to be a very fruitful time at the zoo as it welcomed two lion cubs, six African penguin chicks, one

golden lion tamarin The golden lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus rosalia'', pt, mico-leão-dourado , ), also known as the golden marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Native to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion t ...

baby, three domestic goat kids, a California sea lion pup and a

Bornean orangutan The Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') is a species of orangutan endemic to the island of Borneo. Together with the Sumatran orangutan (''Pongo abelii'') and Tapanuli orangutan (''Pongo tapanuliensis''), it belongs to the only genus of grea ...

baby. In 2018, Seneca Park Zoo began its multi-year Master Plan improvement. The first elements of a Cold Asia area opened next to the animal hospital in June, which included new habitats for snow leopards and red pandas. In September 2018, the zoo opened up a new African exhibit called Animals of the Savanna. The five-acre area includes Masai giraffes, plains zebras, a white rhino, naked mole rats, an aviary, and some other smaller exhibits.

Education and conservation

Seneca Park Zoo reaches out to many communities in the

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

region to educate the public with regards to animal and resource conservation, environmental awareness and recycling programs. The zoo is a popular destination for school field trips and the zoo has created expeditions for schoolchildren to learn specific lessons in a zoo setting. The ZooMobile, sponsored by Wegmans, brings small, transportable animals to places like recreation centers, libraries, festivals, senior living facilities and schools. The Butterfly Beltway program, sponsored by the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation, is a program aimed at planting butterfly gardens to increase populations of monarch butterflies, vital

pollinators A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the ma ...

in the region. Additional programs such as summer programming, ZooCamp and ZooTeens give the community an opportunity to enjoy first-hand experiences with educators, zoo keepers and animals.

Events

Seneca Park Zoo hosts many events throughout the year including free-with-admission events such as conservation education days and daily 'Summer Experiences' from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day. Popular fundraisers include ZooBrew, Zoobilation (annual gala), ZooBoo (Halloween), and Breakfast with Santa. The Jungle Jog

5K race The 5K run is a long-distance running, long-distance road running competition over a distance of . Also referred to as the 5K road race, 5 km, or simply 5K, it is the shortest of the most common road running distances. It is usually distingu ...

that occurs in July of each year boasts a course that takes runners through Seneca Park and the zoo. This 5K is extremely popular with area runners and families.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1893 establishments in New York (state) Zoos in New York (state) Entertainment venues in Rochester, New York Culture of Rochester, New York Zoos established in 1893 Educational buildings in Rochester, New York