There is a Zoo in every borough of New York City, and Brooklyn is no exception. While the Prospect Park Zoo might not have the Polar Bears of Central Park Zoo or the Rhinos of the Bronx Zoo, it is still a fun spot to see a decent selection of interesting creatures.
There is a walkway in one area of the park with several metal sculptures depicting different animals. This is the octopus!
Close up of an octopus tentacle
Near the turtle pond we had the opportunity to be turtles...
Nikki the turtle!
The prairie dog area has enclosed bubbles where kids can become part of the exhibit. This prairie dog looks concerned by the intrusion
The park has a lot of garden space between the animal exhibits with some really pretty flowers
One prairie dog on patrol while another hangs out in the borrow
Also near the pond, the chance to be a baby duck, hatching from the egg. The world is new!
I actually thought this was a fake turtle until we got close to take the picture and it moved
There were several species of ducks and even a pair of swans
Look closely and you can see the turtle swimming near the middle of the shot. He was trying to compete with the ducks for the food that kids were dropping in the pond.
The dingos look cute but they are not domestic dogs. Doesn't mean I didn't want to pet them.
Look at those ears!
This is Dolores, the giant African porcupine. We were told that porcupines are not nocturnal, Dolores is just lazy.
Walking on the discovery trail at the zoo
More flowers from the zoo gardens
Peacocks grazing. We saw lots of tail feathers that had been shed on the ground.
I don't know what kind of bird this is. Some of them were darker with bright red accents and some were all pink.
Cute little blonde monkeys
A bird with a mohawk!
The zoo has several houses with different themes. This was a fish from the fish and amphibian house.
Not the best picture but these monkeys have white faces and black bodies which made it look like they are wearing masks.
This baboon looked so wise sitting up on his rock by the waterfall.
This baboon was watching a group of younger baboons and making sure they were behaving themselves.
Almost time for the sea lion show, even the sea lions are excited!
Tourist selfie by the sea lion tank
The sea lions did lots of tricks for us, here she's blowing a kiss
Waving to her adoring fans
In the middle of the show a dragonfly landed on Travis's hand.
A sea lion hand stand
Jumping through the water
Baby sea lions learning the basics for doing tricks
Baby sea lions first learn to touch their nose to the ball on a stick
One of the adult sea lions made a big splash
Jumping through the water again
We walked back to see if Dolores was up, nope! Still sleeping.
The prairie dogs were still keeping watch
Turtles in the pond sun bathing on a log
It's hard to tell from this picture but this sculpture is of a snake eating a frog!
Newbie Tip: If you are going to visit the Prospect Zoo in the summer, chose a slightly cooler day! The red pandas can't handle the heat and will be moved indoors and out of sight on hot days. I was SO excited to see the red pandas when we went but they were not out because of the heat.
