To Do Today: Visit the Franklin Park Zoo
72-acre site features more than 100 species
Photos courtesy of Zoo New England
To Do Today: Visit the Franklin Park Zoo
Meet some of Boston’s interesting residents, including pygmy hippos and white-bearded wildebeests, and stay for a lantern show
What?
Visit the Franklin Park Zoo.
When?
Summer hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm (last entry at 4 pm); Saturday and Sunday, 9 am to 6 pm (last entry at 5 pm).
Where?
Franklin Park Zoo, One Franklin Park Rd., Boston. Find directions here.
How much?
Tickets are $22.95 for adults, $20.95 for seniors (62-plus), and $15.95 for children 2 to 12; free for members and children under 2.
Why should I go?
Did you know that there are lions, a tiger, a pygmy hippo, and a herd of zebras living right in Boston? Welcome to the Franklin Park Zoo.
There are few summer activities more fun than a visit to the zoo. At Franklin Park Zoo—a 72-acre park spanning Boston’s Dorchester, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods—you can stroll through a Giraffe Savannah to watch Masai giraffe graze, as zebras roam nearby. Or you can visit the Outback Trail, where kangaroos and kookaburras live together “down under.”
Photo courtesy of the Franlin Park Zoo
Photo by Scott Hussey
Photo courtesy of Zoo New England
One of the true stars of the zoo is Anala, a tiger rescued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that was being kept illegally in neglectful conditions and now resides in a woodsy habitat. Her arrival in 2006 marked the first time in three decades that a tiger had been on view at Franklin Park Zoo.
Butterfly Hollow, a seasonal exhibition, is now open and offers great interactive experiences for adults and children alike. There’s also a children’s zoo, a farm and petting zoo, and a tropical forest, where you’ll find pygmy hippos, ring-tailed lemurs, Baird’s tapirs, ocelots, and western lowland gorillas (who have a brand-new outdoor habitat).
Then, see the light show. Boston Lights: A Lantern Experience returns to the Franklin Park Zoo for its third year, with 55 large-scale displays comprising hundreds of colorful lanterns. Guests will view luminous scenes from the rain forest and ocean, walking through corridors of bamboo, lotus, and roses, as well as a newly constructed 82-foot-long octopus tunnel. The exhibition requires a separate ticket, and runs nightly through September 25. Ticket prices vary depending on day and time.
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