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Cohanzick Zoo: A Hidden Gem in Cumberland County

The entrance to Cohanzick Zoo, New Jersey's oldest zoo, and one of a few Free Zoos left in the country.

The entrance to Cohanzick Zoo, New Jersey’s oldest zoo, and one of a few Free Zoos left in the country.

Sometimes you just need to get out of the house for a few hours and do something FREE and different besides visit the same park or expensive indoor play place. You want to get out, but you don’t want to spend all day.  That happened to us one morning this summer. We were up bright and early and had time to kill before Story Time at the Bridgeton library. So we decided to explore the Cohanzick Zoo. After all it’s another fun thing to do families in New Jersey.

 

The Cohanzick Zoo, New Jersey’s First Zoo, began more than 60 years ago and displays more than 100 animals in modern naturalistic exhibits.

 

Cohanzick Zoo is located on Mayer Aiken Drive in Bridgeton City Park.

 

According to the city website, the Cohanzick Zoo is open daily 8am-4pm (winter) and 9:00am-5:00pm (summer).

 

There are a variety of animals in exhibits including ring tailed lemurs, a gibbon, Asiatic bear, tigers, llama, African porcupine, as well as water fowl and peacocks roaming throughout the zoo.

We were able to see many of the animals being fed when we arrived at 9:30.

We were able to see many of the animals being fed when we arrived at 9:30.

 

What we love about the Cohanzick Zoo:

  • It’s Free! (There are donation boxes throughout the zoo if you’d like to make a contribution).
  • It’s small enough for my little ones to roam without strollers or really much risk of getting lost.
  • We arrived at 9:30 am one morning and watched the zookeepers feeding the animals. It was like we had our own private zoo.
  • My favorite animal to watch is the Gibbon. He’s like an energetic toddler swinging laps around his cage early in the morning and juggling peaches between his feet and long arms.
  • You can also watch the tiger feeding and meet the keeper every day (except Tuesday) at 2:00 pm.

 

What’s New at the Cohanzick Zoo:

  • Seek & Find Interactive game that debuted May 2013 at KidsFest.
    • Kids can find 25 items hidden throughout the zoo. Up, down, around and even in the animal’s homes.
    • See if you can find:
      • 6 Butterflies
      • 5 Flowers
      • 3 Ladybugs
      • 3 Suns
      • 2 Lizards
      • 2 Apples
      • 2 Bumblebees
      • 2 Flying Saucers
  • Check out the Zoo this July for the FREE Out to Lunch Program
    • Fridays at Noon, the Cohanzick Zoo will provide the entertainment, including Science, Singing, Dancing, and Reptiles.
    • Bring your lunch and join the fun!

In full disclosure, this is not a sponsored post.

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Dana

Thursday 27th of June 2013

They have added a new water playground as well.

Jennifer Auer

Thursday 27th of June 2013

Yes, we have an article on that in a separate blog post. Jenn

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