More From the Garold Wayne Zoo

After Playing with the Taliger,

we were taken on a behind the scenes 

tour of the zoo.

 

The park has approx. 185 big cats,

but there are other animals, too. 

 
Before we went, we had read online 

that the fences were 'sketchy' and some

considered the zoo somewhat unsafe.

We found the fences to be solid, 

but there was not much of a barrier

between the fences and the sidewalks,

so guest could easily stick their fingers 

into the cages if they wished.

This is one area, that did have a barrier,

but as you can see - Alyssa was able

to reach out and play with the baby

bear anyway.

 Everyone in our group was smart enough

not to stick their hand into this

fellow's cage!

 We were encouraged to touch

the camel, though.

 He was very friendly!

 He even gave some of us, kisses!

I'm not so sure Alyssa likes his kisses!

 And I'm not sure how Andrew feels 

about this - but that camel is SMILING!

 This lion resides at the zoo owner's 

house. He's in a fenced yard and 

he loves attention.

 He rubbed up against the fence begging

to be petted. I think it would have

been perfectly safe to pet him, too.

BUT - we had told the children to keep

their hands away from the fences, so

we had to set an example and

keep our own hands away as well.

BUT - That big lion shares a yard with

two little weenie dogs. 

If you'll look under that slanted roof

where the lion lays you will see 

one of them. The dogs and the lion

were raised together and have 

remained friends.

I think that HUGE lion is just

one big baby kitty!

And you can see above just how close

we were to him.

At this zoo, the animals looked

well fed, and happy. Cages were clean

and secure. It should be perfectly safe

to visit and enjoy. Just use some 

common sense and keep your hands

out of the cages.

AND - If you take children, supervise them.