Children of all ages have been flocking to see the bevy of animated movies starring all manner of adorable and frisky animals and mammals. But right here in the City and its boroughs, the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the largest system of urban wildlife parks worldwide, has it all. And it’s live and in person.
   
You don’t have to travel around the world on a safari to see wildlife. Every species is right here, and in a day you can see what it would take you weeks of travel to see—and the Manhattan, Bronx and Queen Zoos and the Coney Island Aquarium are easily accessible by subway and bus. All of these attractions are kid- and family-friendly, with rides and discovery programs.
    
After a snowy winter, the animals are shaking off the cold and looking for the first signs of spring. What better place to commune with nature than the Wildlife Consevation Society’s wildlife habitats?
   
One of the crown jewels is located right near Midtown: the Central Park Zoo (Central Park, Fifth Ave. at 64th St., 212-439-6500; www.centralparkzoo.com), home to one of the Park’s most beloved monuments, the Delacorte clock with animals dancing to nursery rhyme tunes keeping time.

There you’ll find red pandas, snow leopards a plethora of penguins and entertaining California sea lions, monkeys and, probably the most popular attraction, the Arctic polar bears frolicking topside and underwater.    

For the tots, there’s also the Tisch Children’s Zoo, specially designed to inspire children. Kids can walk across lily pads, feed a goat, pet more domesticated animals and watch snow monkeys luxuriate in their hot tub, which mimics the hot springs of their native Japan.
    
The fabled Bronx Zoo (Fordham Road & Bronx River Parkway, The Bronx, 718-367-1010; www.bronxzoo.com), the largest metropolitan wildlife habitat in the U.S., sits on 265 wooded acres. It’s home to the one-of-a-kind Zucker Bug Carousel, which is carved from sustainable boxwood. Around every corner, in each nook and cranny, you’ll observe nature’s most amazing creatures.
    
Lions are feeling spring’s sway and “getting acquainted”; giraffes are stretching their long legs and necks on grassy meadows; and Western lowland gorillas are again enjoying the outdoors in their Congo Gorilla Forest, the perfect spot to celebrate the United Nations-designated Year of the Gorilla. You can also view the antics of toddlers swinging on vines and playfully rolling down hills. A pair of aardvarks recently joined the African trail, housed along with scoop owls in the Carter Giraffe Building.
    
At Jungle World, the Asian habitat, visit with the zoo’s herd of endangered Asian elephants, Nubian ibexes and rock hyrax take in the sun, a kangaroo joey jumps out of his mother’s pouch, and grizzlies dig in their sandpit and swim as male baboons show off for their females. At Tiger Mountain, visitors can join a zookeeper demonstration on the care of Siberian or Amur tigers.
    
One of the Bronx Zoo’s most popular new attractions is the Madagascar! immersion exhibit, which brings the island’s mysterious, exotic creatures “as close as this.” Lemurs, Nile crocodiles, endangered Madagascar-radiated tortoises and ring-tailed mongooses roam in natural habitats.
    
At Brooklyn’s New York Aquarium (Surf Ave. & W. 8th St., Coney Island, Brooklyn, 718-265-FISH; www.nyaquarium.com), the biggest baby, a rare Pacific walrus, is almost two-years-old but is still learning its way. The sea lion show is rollicking fun, there’s a vast array of sharks, stingrays and, among the coral, colorful fish and frogs from around the world.
    
Hard economic times have hit the zoos and aquarium They need your support. Show your support for these incredible attractions by encouraging friends to visit them when they’re in New York City. You can also learn more about conserving these wildlife refuges, by logging onto the Wildlife Conservation Society’s site wcs.org.