Editing Bronx Zoo (section)

==Incidents==
===Human fatality===
On July 29, 1985, two female Siberian tigers killed 24-year-old animal keeper Robin Silverman after she entered their enclosure with a volunteer aide.<ref>{{cite news |title=Flashback to death by Bronx Zoo tiger |author=Oren Yaniv |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/12/27/2007-12-27_flashback_to_death_by_bronx_zoo_tiger_-1.html |newspaper=Daily News |date=December 27, 2007 |access-date=March 29, 2011 |archive-date=December 30, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230115608/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/12/27/2007-12-27_flashback_to_death_by_bronx_zoo_tiger_-1.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was unclear why Silverman entered the enclosure; the zoo's general curator suspected a lapse in Silverman's concentration, while her family suspected a failure on the part of the zoo. It was the first and only human fatality in the zoo's history.<ref>{{cite news |title=Death at the Bronx Zoo |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050426,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209182159/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050426,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 9, 2007 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=April 18, 2005 |access-date=March 29, 2011}}</ref>

===Non-human deaths===
By 2001, the zoo added a troop of [[Javan lutung|Javan langurs]] to JungleWorld, sharing an enclosure with [[asian small-clawed otter]]s.<ref>{{Citation | vauthors=((Doxhoont, L.)) | year=2001 | title=monkey n baby | url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/auntie_doxhoont/468994895/ | access-date=18 May 2025}}</ref> Since the addition of the langurs, they were sighted taunting and provoking the otters.<ref>{{Citation | vauthors=((Altaffer, M.)) | year=2006 | title=A family of Asian Small-Clawed Otters play with a Ebony Langur at the Jungle World exhibit Friday, Nov. 17, 2006 at the Bronx Zoo in New York. The otter pups were born at the zoo on Aug. 25, 2006. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer Stock Photo - Alamy | url=https://www.alamy.com/a-family-of-asian-small-clawed-otters-play-with-a-ebony-langur-at-the-jungle-world-exhibit-friday-nov-17-2006-at-the-bronx-zoo-in-new-york-the-otter-pups-were-born-at-the-zoo-on-aug-25-2006-ap-photomary-altaffer-image541127765.html | access-date=18 May 2025}}</ref> In June 2007, a romp of otters grabbed a langur near the water and proceeded to maul and drown it in full view of visitors. A zookeeper on the viewing deck attempted to break up the fight by whistling at the otters. To no avail of the keeper, the otters killed the langur. Part of the incident was recorded and uploaded to [[YouTube]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNogZkyvH_4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/fNogZkyvH_4 |archive-date=November 18, 2021 |url-status=live |title=Monkey Death at Bronx Zoo |date=June 14, 2007 |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

By 2010, the otters were relocated into two exhibits, one at the Children's Zoo<ref>https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/childrens-zoo-asian-small-clawed-otter-aonyx-cinereus-exhibit.781764/</ref> and another in JungleWorld.<ref>https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/bronx-zoo-2010-short-clawed-otter-exhibit-in-jungle-world.130715/</ref>

===Animal escapes===
In 1902, a seven-month-old male [[jaguar]] broke out of his cage and escaped.<ref name="nydailynews.com"/>

In July 1957, a platypus named [[Penelope (platypus)|Penelope]] who had recently made headlines for faking a pregnancy disappeared, abandoning her mate Cecil. Zookeepers searched the premises but found no evidence of her.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1957-09-18 |title=ZOO MOURNS PENELOPE; Platypus Who Fled Ardent Mate 'Probably Dead' |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/09/18/archives/zoo-mourns-penelope-platypus-who-fled-ardent-mate-probably-dead.html |access-date=2023-05-13 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In February 1995, the zoo's De Jur Aviary collapsed during a snowstorm with about 100 [[seabird]]s, including [[Inca tern]]s and [[gull]]s, inside. During the collapse, some of the residents flew off and escaped. In total, about 30 birds were lost.<ref name="nytimes.com"/>

On March 26, 2011, the Bronx Zoo announced that World of Reptiles was closed after a venomous adolescent [[cobra]] was discovered missing from its off-exhibit enclosure on March 25. Zoo officials were confident the missing cobra would be found in the building and not outside, since the species is known to be uncomfortable in open areas.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bronx Zoo Reptile House Closed After Poisonous Snake Goes Missing |author=Kevin Dolak |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/poisonous-snake-missing-bronx-zoo/story?id=13233433 |work=ABC News |date=March 27, 2011 |access-date=March 29, 2011 |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119023915/http://abcnews.go.com/US/poisonous-snake-missing-bronx-zoo/story?id=13233433 |url-status=live}}</ref> The missing snake quickly sparked a popular [[Twitter]] parody account, @BronxZoosCobra,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.twitter.com/bronxzooscobra |title=Bronx Zoo's Cobra |website=Twitter |access-date=March 30, 2011 |archive-date=March 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110329211359/https://twitter.com/BronxZoosCobra |url-status=live}}</ref> which narrated the daily hijinks of the cobra.<ref>{{cite web |title=Missing Bronx zoo cobra sparks Twitter following |author=Allen, Jonathan |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cobra-twitter-idUSTRE72T67520110330 |website=Reuters |date=March 30, 2011 |access-date=March 30, 2011 |archive-date=March 31, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110331162036/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/30/us-usa-cobra-twitter-idUSTRE72T67520110330 |url-status=live}}</ref> On March 31, zoo authorities found the snake in a non-public area of the reptile house.<ref>{{cite news |title=Missing Bronx Zoo Egyptian Cobra Finally Captured |url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/03/31/report-missing-bronx-zoo-cobra-has-been-captured/ |work=WCBS-TV |date=March 31, 2011 |access-date=April 1, 2011 |archive-date=April 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110403034742/http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/03/31/report-missing-bronx-zoo-cobra-has-been-captured/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

On May 9, 2011, a female [[green peafowl]] escaped from the zoo before being caught on May 11.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Connor |first=Anahad |title=Another Bronx Getaway, This Time Without the Scales |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/nyregion/peahen-escapes-bronx-zoo.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=August 12, 2011 |date=May 10, 2011 |archive-date=May 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518084321/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/nyregion/peahen-escapes-bronx-zoo.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

On September 11, 2011, a [[lesser kudu]] escaped from its enclosure for about half an hour and then returned to its enclosure once a zoo worker opened the gate.<ref>{{cite news |last=Paddock |first=Berry |title=Exotic Antelope Gets Big Break When Photographer Finds Her Loose at Bronx Zoo |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exotic-antelope-big-break-photographer-finds-loose-bronx-zoo-article-1.957851 |location=New York |work=Daily News |access-date=August 21, 2013 |archive-date=December 8, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208002800/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exotic-antelope-big-break-photographer-finds-loose-bronx-zoo-article-1.957851 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On April 26, 2023, an [[Indian peafowl]] given the nickname Raul escaped from the zoo and reportedly bit a man, although those reports were never confirmed. Raul flew back into the zoo at 11:17{{nbs}}a.m. the next day.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Marcius |first1=Chelsia Rose |last2=Cruz |first2=Liset |date=2023-04-27 |title=Escaped Peacock Returns to Bronx Zoo After a Night on the Loose |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/nyregion/peacock-escape-bronx-zoo.html |access-date=2024-01-21 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===Happy the Elephant===
[[File:Bronx Zoo NYC.jpg|thumb|Elephants at the zoo]]
In the early 1970s, seven [[Indian elephant]]s, named after the Seven Dwarfs from ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White]]'', were captured as calves in [[Thailand]] and dispersed among multiple U.S. zoos and [[circus]]es. Two of those calves, Grumpy and Happy, both females, were brought to the zoo in 1977. Over the next 25 years, the pair lived together, separated from the zoo's other elephants. In July 2002, the zoo attempted to mix the pair with two other females, Patty and Maxine. However, the introduction failed when Patty and Maxine attacked the pair and injured Grumpy. Over the next several months, the elephant's injuries worsened and, in October of that year, the zoo was forced to [[Euthanasia|euthanize]] her. With her lifelong companion gone, Happy was paired with the zoo's younger female, Sammy, whose companion Tus had also died in 2002. The two got along very well until Sammy developed severe [[liver disease]] and was also euthanized in early 2006. This left Patty, Maxine, and Happy as the zoo's only remaining elephants.<ref name="nytimes.com1">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/nyregion/the-bronx-zoos-loneliest-elephant.html |title=The Bronx Zoo's Loneliest Elephant |date=June 28, 2015 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 6, 2017 |archive-date=November 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106150419/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/nyregion/the-bronx-zoos-loneliest-elephant.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite the fact that elephants are highly social animals, the zoo decided that making a second attempt at introducing Happy to the others was too risky, with there being too high a chance that she would be attacked. She has since lived without the company of other elephants. Due to this, the zoo has been criticized by multiple [[Animal rights movement|animal rights organizations]] for supposedly mistreating Happy. [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals]] (PETA) filed a formal complaint against the zoo with the [[Association of Zoos and Aquariums]] (AZA), calling for them to strip the zoo of its accreditation. In Defense of Animals (IDA) has named the zoo the "Hall of Shame Winner" on their 2015, 2016, and 2017 'Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants'.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/wild-free2/elephant-protection/hall-of-shame/defense-animals-10-worst-zoos-elephants-2015/ |title=In Defense of Animals 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants 2015 |access-date=April 29, 2016 |archive-date=May 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509003103/http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/wild-free2/elephant-protection/hall-of-shame/defense-animals-10-worst-zoos-elephants-2015/ |url-status=live}}</ref> IDA listed the zoo fourth on their 2012 list,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/wild-free2/elephant-protection/hall-of-shame/2012-ten-worst-zoos-for-elephants/ |title=2012 Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants - In Defense of Animals |access-date=April 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512110934/http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/wild-free2/elephant-protection/hall-of-shame/2012-ten-worst-zoos-for-elephants/ |archive-date=May 12, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> fifth on their 2013 and 2014 lists,<ref>Mosbergen, Dominique, [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/worst-zoos-for-elephants-bronx-zoo-disney_n_6465600.html "Bronx Zoo, Disney's Animal Kingdom Make List Of The '10 Worst Zoos For Elephants{{'"}}] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905215411/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/worst-zoos-for-elephants-bronx-zoo-disney_n_6465600.html |date=September 5, 2017}} ''[[Huffington Post]]'', January 13, 2015</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/wild-free2/elephant-protection/hall-of-shame/2013-ten-worst-zoos-for-elephants/ |title=2013 Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants - - In Defense of Animals |access-date=April 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501232134/http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/wild-free2/elephant-protection/hall-of-shame/2013-ten-worst-zoos-for-elephants/ |archive-date=May 1, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and eighth on their 2009 list.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://yubanet.com/enviro/In-Defense-of-Animals-Releases-2009-Ten-Worst-Zoos-for-Elephants-List.php |title=In Defense of Animals Releases 2009 "Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants" List |access-date=April 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530183607/http://yubanet.com/enviro/In-Defense-of-Animals-Releases-2009-Ten-Worst-Zoos-for-Elephants-List.php |archive-date=May 30, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The organizations, as well as many [[online petition]]s (some of which gain up to 200,000 supporters), have called on the zoo to send Happy to an [[Wildlife refuge|elephant sanctuary]]. However, the zoo said that moving her at this stage in her life might be potentially traumatizing for her, and that she has very strong bonds with her keepers and is well-adjusted to the zoo, where she has spent well over thirty years of her life.<ref name="nytimes.com1"/><ref name="jimbreheny">{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/jim-breheny-hey-elephant-lovers-happy-happy-article-1.2339759 |title=Jim Breheny: Hey, elephant lovers: Happy is happy |author=Jim Breheny |date=August 28, 2015 |work=Daily News |access-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-date=December 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226181315/http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/jim-breheny-hey-elephant-lovers-happy-happy-article-1.2339759 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2012, a reporter for the ''[[New York Post]]'' wrote that she is kept inside all year and in [[solitary confinement]]. The zoo claims that she and the other two elephants have equal access to outdoor yards, and that the three elephants have limited interactions with each other and extensive interactions with zoo keepers. All three animals share the same barn, but Happy lives in separate stalls and yards.<ref name="jimbreheny"/> In late 2018, one of the zoo's other elephants, Maxine, was euthanized due to complications with her liver and kidneys.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/11/20/elephant-euthanized-at-bronx-zoo/ |title=Maxine, 48-Year-Old Elephant, Euthanized At Bronx Zoo After Illness |date=November 20, 2018 |website=CBS New York |access-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719055652/https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/11/20/elephant-euthanized-at-bronx-zoo/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

A lawsuit against the Bronx Zoo, stating that Happy was legally "a person with a right to be free", was dismissed in February 2020 by a judge of the Bronx County Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Katersky |first1=Aaron |title=Siding with Bronx Zoo, judge rules Happy the elephant is not a person |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/siding-bronx-zoo-judge-rules-happy-elephant-person/story?id=69085996 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=February 20, 2020 |access-date=April 5, 2020 |archive-date=March 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328183615/https://abcnews.go.com/US/siding-bronx-zoo-judge-rules-happy-elephant-person/story?id=69085996 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, in May 2021, the [[New York Court of Appeals]] agreed to hear the appeal, filed on behalf of Happy by the [[Nonhuman Rights Project]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Gavin |first=Robert |title=NY's top court to consider 'personhood' of Happy the elephant |website=[[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]] |date=May 4, 2021 |url=https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/NY-s-top-court-to-consider-personhood-of-Happy-16151699.php |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505021918/https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/NY-s-top-court-to-consider-personhood-of-Happy-16151699.php |url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2022, the Court of Appeals also ruled in favor of the zoo, saying in a 5–2 decision that the [[Habeas corpus|writ of habeas corpus]] did not apply to nonhuman animals.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cohen |first=Luc |date=June 15, 2022 |title=Happy the elephant is denied personhood, to stay at Bronx Zoo |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/happy-elephant-is-denied-personhood-stay-bronx-zoo-2022-06-14/ |access-date=June 16, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 14, 2022 |title=Happy the elephant is not a person, New York's highest court rules |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/happy-the-elephant-is-not-a-person-new-yorks-highest-court-rules |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220614161717/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/happy-the-elephant-is-not-a-person-new-yorks-highest-court-rules |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 14, 2022 |access-date=June 16, 2022 |website=Animals}}</ref>

===Ota Benga===
{{Main|Ota Benga}}
[[File:Ota Benga at Bronx Zoo.jpg|thumb|upright|Ota Benga at the Bronx Zoo in 1906. Only five promotional photos exist of Benga's time here, none of them in the Monkey House; cameras were not allowed.<ref name="Bradford Blume 1992">{{cite book |last1=Bradford |first1=Phillips Verner |last2=Blume |first2=Harvey |year=1992 |title=Ota Benga: The Pygmy in the Zoo |publisher=St. Martins Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-08276-5}}</ref>{{rp|p=Photo insert}}]]

In 1906, [[Ota Benga]], a man from the [[Mbuti people|Mbuti]] [[Pygmy peoples|pygmy]] ethnic group, was brought to the zoo by the American businessman and explorer [[Samuel Phillips Verner]], and displayed there as an exhibit, though he was allowed to roam the grounds freely. He became fond of an [[orangutan]] named Dohong, "the presiding genius of the Monkey House", who had been taught to perform tricks and imitate human behavior.<ref name="Bradford Blume 1992"/>{{rp|172–174}} The events leading to his "exhibition" alongside Dohong were gradual. Benga spent some of his time in the Monkey House exhibit, where the zoo encouraged him to hang his [[hammock]] and to shoot his bow and arrow at a target. On the first day of the exhibit, September 8, 1906, visitors found Benga in the Monkey House.<ref name="nyt2006">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/nyregion/thecity/06zoo.html |title=The Scandal at the Zoo |date=August 6, 2006|work=The New York Times |last=Keller |first=Mitch |access-date=February 6, 2017 |archive-date=January 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131174812/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/nyregion/thecity/06zoo.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Soon, a sign on the exhibit read:
{{Blockquote|The African Pigmy, "Ota Benga."<br />
Age, 23 years. Height, 4 feet 11 inches.<br />
Weight, 103 pounds. Brought from the<br />
Kasai River, Congo Free State, South<br />
Central Africa, by Dr. Samuel P. Verner.<br />
Exhibited each afternoon during September.<ref name="nyt1906">"Man and Monkey Show Disapproved by Clergy", ''The New York Times'', September 10, 1906, pg. 1.</ref>
}}

Hornaday considered the exhibit a valuable spectacle for visitors; he was supported by [[Madison Grant]], secretary of the [[New York Zoological Society]], who lobbied to put Benga on-display alongside [[ape]]s at the zoo. A decade later, Grant became prominent nationally as a [[scientific racism|racial anthropologist]] and [[eugenics|eugenicist]].<ref name="Bradford Blume 1992"/>{{rp|173–175}}

[[African-American]] clergymen immediately protested to zoo officials about the exhibit. James H. Gordon said, "Our race, we think, is depressed enough, without exhibiting one of us with the apes&nbsp;... We think we are worthy of being considered human beings, with souls."<ref name="nyt2006"/> Gordon also thought the exhibit was hostile to Christianity and a promotion of [[Darwinism]]: "The Darwinian theory is absolutely opposed to Christianity, and a public demonstration in its favor should not be permitted."<ref name="nyt2006"/> A number of clergymen backed Gordon.<ref name="Spiro 2008">
{{cite book |last=Spiro |first=Jonathan Peter |title=Defending the Master Race: Conservation, Eugenics, and the Legacy of Madison Grant |publisher=University of Vermont Press |location=Burlington, VT |year=2008 |pages=43–51 |isbn=978-1-58465-715-6}}</ref>{{Rp|47}} In defense of the depiction of Benga as a lesser human, an editorial in ''[[The New York Times]]'' suggested:
{{Blockquote|We do not quite understand all the emotion which others are expressing in the matter&nbsp;... It is absurd to make moan over the imagined humiliation and degradation Benga is suffering. The pygmies&nbsp;... are very low in the human scale, and the suggestion that Benga should be in a school instead of a cage ignores the high probability that school would be a place&nbsp;... from which he could draw no advantage whatever. The idea that men are all much alike except as they have had or lacked opportunities for getting an education out of books is now far out of date.<ref name="Spiro 2008"/>{{Rp|48}}}}

Benga was allowed to roam the grounds of the zoo. In response to the situation, as well as verbal and physical prods from the crowds, he became more mischievous and somewhat violent.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Ken |year=1998 |title=Raw Deal: Horrible and Ironic Stories of Forgotten Americans |publisher=Blast Books, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=978-0-922233-20-5}}</ref>{{Rp|1=Chapter on Ota Benga}} Around this time, Rev. Dr. R. MacArthur of Calvary Baptist Church, was quoted in ''The New York Times'' saying: "It is too bad that there is not some society like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. We send our missionaries to Africa to Christianize the people, and then we bring one here to brutalize him." Soon, the zoo removed Benga from the grounds.<ref>Quoted by NPR at [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5787947 From the Belgian Congo to the Bronx Zoo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218023934/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5787947 |date=February 18, 2018}}, September 8, 2006, Retrieved May 29, 2015</ref> Toward the end of 1906, Benga was released into Reverend Gordon's custody.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keller |first=Mitch |date=6 August 2006 |title=The Scandal at the Zoo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/nyregion/thecity/06zoo.html |access-date=9 December 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Gordon placed Benga in the [[Howard Colored Orphan Asylum]], a church-sponsored [[orphanage]] in [[Brooklyn]] that Gordon supervised. As the unwelcome press attention continued, in January 1910, Gordon arranged for Benga's relocation to [[Lynchburg, Virginia]], where he lived with the family of [[Gregory W. Hayes]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bradford|Blume|1992|pages=191–204}}</ref> While there, Benga received tutoring from Lynchburg-based [[Harlem Renaissance]] poet [[Anne Spencer]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bradford|Blume|1992|pages=212–213}}</ref>

Benga died by [[suicide]] in 1916 at the age of 32.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Delaney |first=Ted |title=Ota Benga (ca. 1883–1916) |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/benga-ota-ca-1883-1916/#heading3 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240806053650/https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/benga-ota-ca-1883-1916/#heading3 |archive-date=6 August 2024 |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=Encyclopedia Virginia |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2020, WCS apologized for the zoo's treatment of Benga and promotion of eugenics.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Julia |date=July 29, 2020 |title=Racist Incident From Bronx Zoo's Past Draws Apology |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/arts/bronx-zoo-apology-racism.html |access-date=July 30, 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730011316/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/arts/bronx-zoo-apology-racism.html |url-status=live}}</ref>