Brown Bears
📍 The Bronx, NY
Outdoor brown bear exhibit at Bronx Zoo featuring rescued bears - orphaned or habituated to humans in the wild - visible up close as they swim, wrestle, and interact with keeper enrichment. Included in standard zoo admission.
🏆 Family Action Verdict
Best for families with children of any age who want high-energy, close-up animal viewing. The bears are genuinely active - swimming and wrestling - rather than resting out of sight. Older children can engage with the conservation context: these are rescued animals that couldn't survive in the wild.
ℹ️ What to Know Before You Go
💬 What Families Are Saying
View all reviews →22 Google reviews
G Reviews from Google
Dean Lorenzo Tartaglia (DeanLorenzo828)
11 months ago
“Secretly hidden within this magnificent zoo, well actually, for everyone to see. Exceptionally, bitter/sweet to witness the enormous magnitude of life and fading wilderness of our world. As we all share this world (our home) together, within the harmonization of all life, forever more, in continuous evolution. As is, the life and legacy, within the obvious wilderness of the majestically, breathtaking Grizzly. Oh My☺ Do Like 👍👍💝Forever Love 💜💚💜 Update 10/18/25 from seven years ago, 2018. 🤙😎🤙Myself currently out west for the past 6 years, and haven't even seen one bear, forget Brown Bears 🐻, in Arizona or California.😭😢😥 where once-upon-a-time, at least upon the mountain of Big Bear, California, the place was teaming with Bears 🐻🐻🐻💜💎💜 it's extremely unfortunate that we, in our "supposedly" modern smartness, continue destroy our most beloved World 💜🌍💜 For All Generations...”
Jonathan
a year ago
“My family and I have been to this place years ago and had a wonderful day seeing the animals because the bears were active and that there was there to cool them down and there were people looking at.”
Martin Seibert
7 years ago
“Close to the animals. Very good visible. One of the most thrilling elements in the Bronx zoo for our kids. :-D”
💬 What parents mention
Overview
The Brown Bears exhibit houses rescued animals that can no longer be returned to the wild. Visitors get close-up sightlines as the bears splash in shallow water features, wrestle with each other, and forage during keeper enrichment sessions. The exhibit is accessible year-round as part of Bronx Zoo admission. Strong visibility makes it one of the most photographed stops in the zoo.
