Being the only zoo in Connecticut for over 80 years now, Beardsley Zoo is proud to have a rich collection of animals that visitors can view and interact with. You and your children can enjoy fantastic local hiking trips, you can go on zoo scavenger hunts as a family and you can learn more about how to protect the environment through the zoo's conservation efforts.

The Beardsley Zoo, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is the only zoo in the state of Connecticut. It includes one of the few carousels in the state. In 1878, James W. Beardsley, a wealthy farmer, donated over 100 acres of hilly, rural land bordering on the Pequonnock River with a distant view of Long Island Sound to the city of Bridgeport on condition that "the city shall accept and keep the same forever as a public park...." In 1881, the city contracted Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for creating New York City's Central Park, to create a design for Beardsley Park. Olmsted described the existing land as "pastoral, sylvan and idyllic" and, in 1884, delivered his plan for a simple, rural park for the residents to enjoy: is thoroughly rural and just such a countryside as a family of good taste and healthy nature would resort to, if seeking a few hours' complete relief from scenes associated with the wear and tear of ordinary town life.... It is a better picnic ground than any possessed by the city of New York, after spending twenty million on parks.... The object of any public outlay upon it should be to develop and bring out these distinctive local advantages, and make them available to extensive use in the future by large numbers of people."