When Macy’s Used Live Animals From the Central Park Zoo in Its Thanksgiving Parade

It’s become a Thanksgiving tradition for families to start the morning off with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, either watching at home or attending the parade in person.

That’s not surprising considering the parade first weaved its way through New York City’s streets in 1924 to entertain families and celebrate the upcoming Christmas festivities. But that first parade—and a few afterward—featured something that you won’t see this Thanksgiving on the parade route: zoo animals.

This Place Is a Zoo

The first Macy's parade celebrated Christmas and the arrival of Santa Claus to the Big Apple for the festive holiday season, so parade planners made sure to have plenty of entertainment for attendees before ending with the official unveiling of Macy’s elaborately decorated windows just in time for the season.

The parade included floats with different fairy tale themes, brass bands, and, yes, even zoo animals.

The parade was organized by Walter F. Donor, who had previously worked in circuses, which may be why he was inspired to have live animals from the Central Park Zoo in the parade. Among the tumbling clowns, brass bands, and cowboys were bears, elephants, camels, and monkeys to “make Santa Claus’ entry into New York an event for the city’s youth to remember,” according to one local newspaper from the time.

But the animals didn’t stay around for long, with the bears and elephants quickly being replaced in later years for a variety of reasons. The parade route was six miles long that first year, compared to only 2.5 miles for this year’s parade, making the spectacle a tiring affair for animals like elephants that walked the entire route. It also may not have been a parade for “the city’s youth to remember” because young children were scared of the animals or couldn’t see them over the crowds.

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Instead, parade planners began to use balloons that could be seen along the crowded parade route, with Felix the Cat making its debut in 1927. That year, zoo animals like lions and bears were still sort of in the parade, represented by human parade participants wearing masks along the parade route.

What's Next for Macy’s Parade

There are going to be zoo animals participating in this year’s parade—in a very different way than they did for that first parade in 1924. The Bronx Zoo will be returning to the parade with a float depicting the Wonderful World of Wildlife, but without real elephants, bears, and other animals that call the Bronx Zoo their home.

The animals depicted on this year’s float are designed to be the same size as their real-life counterparts.

This year’s parade will also feature 34 balloons, 28 floats, and 11 marching bands, along with performances by Mickey Guyton, Busta Rhymes, Jewel, and Darlene Love, among others.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be celebrating its 100th birthday in 2026. The annual event was actually cancelled for two years during World War II, with New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia donating the parade’s balloons to the rubber scrap heap in 1942 to help with the war effort.

You can watch the 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this Thanksgiving, November 27, starting at 8:30 a.m. ET. The event will be broadcast on NBC and will also stream live on Peacock.