Blog Posts

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo’s Teen Programs Clear Half Ton of Debris from the Pequonnock River

5/19/2022

Teen Programs, Volunteers and Staff Help Local Conservation Efforts through River Cleanups and Salt Marsh Plantings

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – May 19, 2022 – Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo’s teen Conservation Discovery Corps (CDC) students, in combination with the teen Zoo Career Explorers, as well as volunteers and staff, have cleaned up more than one half ton of trash from the shores of the Pequonnock River. Over the past several weeks, the group of volunteers met several times to walk the shores of the river and remove trash and debris from the waterway.

The Farmyard Goes Hog Wild at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo

4/18/2022

Five Guinea Hog Piglets Born

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – April 14, 2022 –Five Guinea hog piglets were born at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo on Saturday, April 9 after a 114-day gestation period. Piglets are born with their eyes open and can immediately get around, so guests can see the litter outside in the Scinto Family Pig Pen enjoying fresh air and sunshine when they’re not napping with mom. There are three males and two females, and all are healthy and active.

Proud parents are Harry Plopper, the Zoo’s elected animal mayor, and Ethel, one of Harry’s two female companions in the Farmyard. Ethel and Harry Plopper arrived in June 2021 from New York. Both were born in March 2021.The other Guinea hog sow, Doris, is expected to give birth soon as well. Harry has been moved to a new home next to the Dexter cows to give mom and babies space.

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo Announces the Celebration of its 100th Birthday

3/23/2022

Connecticut’s Only Zoo Looks to the Past While Creating the Future: 1922-2022

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – March 23, 2022– There was a time in the not-so-distant past when farmers still were easily found within city limits, the city of Bridgeport hired famous landscape architects like Frederick Law Olmsted to design park grounds, and celebrities like circus impresario P.T. Barnum donated retired circus animals to help create the region’s first Zoo. The history of the Zoo and the city of Bridgeport will always be inextricably entwined. Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2022, with a rich and varied history in the state’s most populous city.

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo Mourns the Loss of Red Panda Rochan

2/25/2022

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Feb 25, 2022 – The family at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is saddened to announce the passing of Rochan, a seven-year-old male red panda, on February 17, 2022. Rochan was being monitored and treated for a health condition affecting his ability to walk. Upon completion of an MRI to investigate Rochan’s increasing difficulty, lesions on his spine were identified, further compromising his mobility. The difficult decision was made to humanely euthanize him based on quality-of-life considerations.

Eagle Scout Project Bridges a Gap in the New England Farmyard at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo

2/24/2022

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Feb 24, 2022 – The New England Farmyard at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo has a new covered bridge over the duck pond, thanks to Trumbull Eagle Scout Luke Strong. A junior at Trumbull High School, Strong has been coming to the Zoo since he was a small child, and he explained that he was looking for a way to give something back to the place he loved. With a future career in mind as an architect, he envisioned a covered bridge over the waterway that’s home to a large variety of ducks and geese. “I thought it would be a good challenge,” he said, planning the bridge as his Eagle Scout Service Project.