A bear and a goat dancing at the Central Park Zoo

Alive or cast in bronze, all the animals at the Central Park Zoo are pretty charming.

Case in point: two creatures flanking the entrance gate of the Children’s Zoo since 1937, both hoofing it and having a blast.

Honey Bear is on the north side. She (he?) is on hind legs, playfully (or hungrily?) sticking her tongue out, standing on a basin surrounded by five bug-eyed water-spraying frogs.

On the south side is the Dancing Goat.

A little more ornery looking, Dancing Goat is also on hind legs in a basin, five bold little ducks who serve as fountains at his feet.

These two whimsical statues are the creation of Brooklyn native Frederick George Richard Roth.

An accomplished artist born in 1872, Roth was the head sculptor of the city Parks Department in the 1930s.

(Who knew the parks department once had a head sculptor?)

If you’ve spent time in Central Park, you’ve probably seen his work. Roth designed the Mother Goose monument as well as the statue of hero husky Balto.

You know Balto, the sled dog who helped deliver medicine to sick kids in an Alaskan Blizzard in 1925.

This dancing goat isn’t the only one in Central Park.

These two bronze miniatures flanking a frolicking boy sit on top of the Lehman Gates at the entrance to the Children’s Zoo, along with other bronze critters. As if this part of the park could get any sweeter.