County to host open house at zoo on June 3

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The 15th annual Essex County Open House will be Saturday, June 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Turtle Back Zoo, 560 Northfield Ave. in West Orange. The carnival-like event combines games and activities to entertain and provide information to raise public awareness about the programs and services provided by […]

Turtle Back Zoo opens new exhibits

Turtle Back Zoo opens new exhibits

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. announced the opening of two new natural habitat-themed animal exhibits at Turtle Back Zoo on Monday, April 17. One exhibit is for Andean condors and the other exhibit combines giant anteaters and maned wolves. The new exhibits are part of the county’s ongoing initiative to […]

Turtle Back Zoo earns first-ever ZAA accreditation

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Turtle Back Zoo has earned accreditation for the first time from the Zoological Association of America. The five-year accreditation was awarded Monday, April 3, and is good through 2022. The ZAA is the second zoological organization to accredit Turtle Back Zoo; the facility has received accreditation from the Association of […]

County parks system earns three awards

WEST ORANGE / MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Essex County Parks System received three awards from the New Jersey Recreation and Parks Association on March 7. The African Adventure Giraffe Exhibit and Savanna Cafe at Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange and the Essex County Glenfield Park Playground in Montclair were given the Excellence in Design […]

DiVincenzo gives State of the County Address

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. presented his 14th annual State of the County Address on Monday, Feb. 27, in the Essex County Hospital Center in Cedar Grove. The multimedia presentation outlined county achievements and improvement projects completed in 2016, highlighted the services and programs offered by Essex County and announced […]

Sea Turtle Recovery Center opens at TBZ

Sea Turtle Recovery Center opens at TBZ

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Prudential Sea Turtle Recovery Center at Turtle Back Zoo officially opened Friday, Feb. 10. Essex County partnered with nonprofit Sea Turtle Recovery to operate the facility, which will nurse cold-stunned or injured turtles back to health so they can be released back into the ocean. Looking at sea turtles in […]

Turtle Back Zoo’s groundhog sees his shadow

According to rodent, we can expect six more weeks of winter

Turtle Back Zoo’s groundhog sees his shadow

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Essex Ed, resident groundhog at Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, saw his shadow on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2. The Groundhog Day legend states that if the groundhog sees his shadow, we will have six more weeks of winter weather. In addition, Essex Ed predicted that the Atlanta Falcons would defeat […]

New Jersey’s newest rehabilitation center welcomes first sea turtles

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The first injured sea turtles arrived last month at New Jersey’s new and only long-term sea turtle rehabilitation center, the Sea Turtle Recovery at Turtle Back Zoo. The 10 Kemp’s ridley sea turtles were transported from the New England Aquarium in Massachusetts, where the season has already brought nearly 450 cold […]