Petting zoo

Child petting a domestic goat at the "Little Kids" Children's Zoo, St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

A zoo visitor interacts with a Python reticulatus at the Reptile Park in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, Jakarta, Indonesia.

A petting zoo (often called, or part of, a "children's zoo") features a combination of domestic animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, also called children's farms or petting farms, many general zoos contain a petting zoo. Some petting zoos can be found in city parks, and some petting zoos are also mobile and will travel to a home for a children's party or event. Many areas have a qualified mobile petting zoo.

Most petting zoos are designed to provide only relatively placid, herbivorous domesticated animals such as sheep, goats, rabbits, ponies etc. to safely feed and physically interact with. This is in contrast to the usual zoo experience, where normally wild animals are viewed from behind safe enclosures where no contact is possible. A few provide wild species (such as pythons or baby big cats) to interact with, but these are rare and usually found outside of Western nations.

Touching animals can result in the transmission of diseases between animals and humans (zoonoses) so it is recommended that people should thoroughly wash their hands before and after touching the animals There have been several outbreaks of E. Coli etc.

History

In 1938, the London Zoo included the first children's zoo in Europe and the Philadelphia Zoo was the first in North America to open a special zoo just for children.

Animals and food

Petting farm in Berlin Zoological Garden

Petting zoos feature a variety of domestic animals. Common animals include sheep, guinea pigs, goats, rabbits, miniature horses, camels, llamas, pigs, miniature donkeys, and other domestic animals and also wallabies.

Petting zoos are extremely popular with small children, who will often feed the animals. In order to ensure the animals' health, the food is supplied by the zoo, either from vending machines or a kiosk nearby. Food often fed to animals includes grass and crackers, and also in selected feeding areas hay is a common food. Such feeding is an exception to the usual rule about not feeding animals.

See also

• Cat café
• Pet rental