The Franklin Park Zoo is a 72-acre (29 ha) zoo located in Boston, Massachusetts. It is currently operated by Zoo New England, which also operates the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Massachusetts. The zoo is located in the northeast portion of Franklin Park, Boston's largest park and the last component of the city's famed Emerald Necklace.
The zoo was opened to the public in 1912, and managed by the City of Boston until 1958, when the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) took control. Under the MDC's management, the zoo opened several new exhibits, including Bird's World (c. 1975), the Children's Zoo (1984), and the African Tropical Forest (1989). In 1991, the zoo's management was handed over to the Commonwealth Zoological Corporation (CZS), which also gained management of the Stone Zoo. (In July 1997, the CZS was renamed Zoo New England to "reflect the changing image of both zoos".) The zoo has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) since 1990.
The facility is funded by state money, and has had a history of staff and financial problems, most notably in 2002 and 2009. Luckily, the zoo has never actually closed during these difficult times.
Read more about Franklin Park Zoo: History, Exhibits, Attendance
Famous quotes containing the words franklin, park and/or zoo:
“That which resembles most living one’s life over again, seems to be to recall all the circumstances of it; and, to render this remembrance more durable, to record them in writing.”
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
“Mrs. Mirvan says we are not to walk in [St. James’s] Park again next Sunday ... because there is better company in Kensington Gardens; but really, if you had seen how every body was dressed, you would not think that possible.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)
“The zoo cannot but disappoint. The public purpose of zoos is to offer visitors the opportunity of looking at animals. Yet nowhere in a zoo can a stranger encounter the look of an animal. At the most, the animal’s gaze flickers and passes on. They look sideways. They look blindly beyond.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)