what exotic animals best for petting zoo?

Y

yousuf89

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
what animals other than goats, llamas, mini-donkeys and other domestic animals are best for petting zoo (without the keeper being around you)?

I know some that are best, like:
- lorikeets, budgies
- stingrays and sharks
- butterflies
- doctorfish
- giant tortoise
- wallabies
just to name some
 
Boa constrictors
Emu
Armadillos
Snakes no bigger than three foot long
Female deer
That's all I can think of at the moment.I will post extras if I think of anymore.
 
None of species mentioned should be confronted with (juvenile) visitors without professional supervision.
 
Every animal will bite if it cannot escape and a child starts to pick or hug it like a plush toy. No difference here between a rabbit, goat or a llama and an exotic animal.

If you have adult supervision and feeding through the barrier, many wild plant-eaters make great contact animals. There are places one can feed porcupine, ostrich, ibex, deer and many others.

Animals which can be fed without a barrier, but they can immediately escape back to their safe area are also many: alpine marmots and many birds, for example.

If you have touching session under adult supervision, many small animals are good - from a millipede or non-venomous snake to a small carnivore.
 
Jurek7 said:
Animals which can be fed without a barrier, but they can immediately escape back to their safe area are also many: alpine marmots and many birds, for example.
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what other animals can be fed without a barrier, but they can immediately escape back to their safe area?

Never heard of zoo having free roaming alpine marmot, unless its in the wild
 
Consider that even if animals are totally safe there is always that random event that results in injury or an incident; as a result it would be sensible for any petting environment to have staff on-hand be they paid staff or even volunteers.

It helps reduce the chance of an incident starting to happen, let alone happening and also gives a more professional appearance of the zoo toward its visitors.

CCTV would also be of great benefit should any incident ever come to court. It's not nice to think of such things, but sometimes a few precautions can help avoid disaster.

Such measures might also influence the insurance rates; having no staff present at a petting environment - esp if those species are not common domestics - might well be a huge spike in insurance premiums.


edit - on a happier note - staff present can provide interpretation and answer questions to visitors. Thus presenting a fantastic point to engage with the public for the zoo and provide education to visitors; thus spreading awareness of conservation and the zoo's over all objective.s
 
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