If a sea lion claps at the Bronx Zoo, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

There is plenty of time to ponder koans these days at the animal park, where the coronavirus pandemic has left the sea lions, and the rest of its roughly 6,000 creatures, without an audience. In this busy season at the zoo, when people typically pack in — children atop their parents’ shoulders — to see the sea lions eat, there is no one standing at the pool railing.

Or walking the pathways of Astor Court, with its Beaux-Arts buildings. Or sitting at the picnic tables. Or riding Wild Asia, the seasonal monorail that tours the habitats of red pandas, elephants and rhinos.