Birds of Inwood - Visit Teri's new blog about birds!

Birds of Inwood - Visit Teri's new blog about birds!
A visual journey exploring the birds of Inwood and Northern Manhattan

Sightings in Central Park: Of Bears and Boat Landings

Recent walks through Central Park have turned up several charming items of interest, including a pair of grizzly bears at the Central Park Zoo and a couple of historic boat landings around The Lake.


BEARS: Betty and Veronica have lived in their new place in Central Park for a little over a year. The pair of grizzly bears previously resided at the Bronx Zoo, their New York home since 1995. In their previous lives, Betty made her home in Montana and Veronica lived the bear's life in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. After associating people with food, they became too dangerous and were adopted by the Wildlife Conservation Society. So naturally, they came to New York where everyone knows that food comes from restaurants.



The two large bears, and they are quite formidable with 600 pounds of bear heft and long talons, seemed pretty chill. Longtime visitors to the zoo will fondly remember the previous residents, the late and great Gus and Ida, bears of the polar variety.

BOAT LANDINGS: While walking around The Lake in Central Park, look for the restorations of five historic boat landings. In the 19th century, boaters enjoyed these picturesque landings.

The Central Park Conservancy is now restoring the structures based on original designs.


You can cross-reference the work in progress with images from the digital collection of The New York Public Library.    


(Above) Rustic boat landing, west of the Circle.
1863. E. & H.T. Anthony (Firm)
The New York Public Library Digital Collections. Link

Images by Walking Off the Big Apple except the last image, courtesy of the NYPL Digital Collection.

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