Petting zoo
A petting zoo features a combination of domesticated animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, many general zoos contain a petting zoo.
Most petting zoos are designed to provide only relatively placid, herbivorous domesticated animals, such as sheep, goats, rabbits, ponies and donkeys to feed and interact physically with safety. 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 to interact with, but these are rare and usually found outside Western nations.
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.During the 1990s, Dutch cities began building petting zoos in many neighbourhoods, so that urban children could interact with animals.
Animals and food
Petting zoos feature a variety of domestic animals. Common animals include cattle, zebu, yaks, sheep, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, ponies, alpacas, llamas, pigs, miniature donkeys, miniature horses, ducks, geese, chickens, and turkeys. They occasionally contain a few exotic animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, emus, deer, zebras, parrots, porcupines, camels, ostriches, bison, water buffaloes, rheas, peafowl, guineafowl, antelopes, capybaras, lemurs, tortoises and many others.Petting zoos are 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. Food often fed to animals includes grass or hay, pellets, or crackers. Such feeding is an exception to the usual rule about not feeding animals.