Zoo animal / guest interactions

[chrisbarela]

Hello - I am curious if anyone has had experience with a zoo exhibit that allowed animal and guest direct interaction. What I mean by that is, not actual touching (as in a petting zoo or animal encounter) but an exhibit that allowed the guest and animal to interact through a medium - like a computer screen that allows communication between a chimpanzee and a human.
What could you do with an otter exhibit or an octopus exhibit? Thoughts?

 

[gentle lemur]

I have an old International Zoo Yearbook for 1975 (Volume 15) in which J L Throp of Honolulu Zoo describes using matching climbing frames for apes and monkeys on one side of the barrier and for children on the other. Apparently they also had a nylon rope between the gorilla enclosure and the public - "Our extroverted male gorilla 'Cameroon' is a willing participant in this 'tug-of-war' between human and animal and is eager to test the strength of any challenger. To make contact with a fully grown male gorilla in a form almost as intimate as a handshake is a memorable experience."
I doubt if any zoo could do that in these litigious days!

Alan