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The Bronx Zoo Closes Down The 111 Year Old Monkey House
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 2, 2012
Modified Mar 3, 2012
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 2, 2012
Modified Mar 3, 2012
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Photo by Wally G
The Monkey House at the Bronx Zoo is now officially closed. If you are sad about that, maybe recalling that the Monkey House used to house an actual human being will help those tears dry up (yes, in 1906 a Congolese pygmy named Ota Benga was part of the exhibition there). Anyway, the zoo closed the doors to the Monkey House after 111 years of activity; it's the second oldest building on their grounds (and it's landmarked, so you don't have to worry about it getting torn down).
At the Bronx Zoo in 1956, via LIFE
The director of the zoo, Jim Breheny, told the NY Times, “Zoo exhibitry has evolved. Originally, animals were grouped taxonomically, so you typically had a large cat house, a monkey house, a pachyderm house. They stuck all these animals together in groups that seemed to make sense.” Later zoos tried to “present animals in as naturalistic a setting as possible." So now you'll find primates elsewhere, like the “Madagascar" exhibit.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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