The first time we fed large animals at a zoo in 2013. We were in south Texas, and had the chance to feed tree branches to giraffes. We had never experienced anything like this before, and it was awesome. It was the first of many memorable animal feedings for us.
Since then, we have fed giraffes at more than a dozen different zoos, and have had the opportunity to feed many other animals. Each feeding is unique and gives us a chance to interact with the animal rather than be an impartial bystander. Throughout our feeding opportunities, we’ve had a lot of fun.
Giraffe feedings for us have become the norm when we go to new zoos – they’ve become very popular over the past few years, and it’s a cheap/easy way for our kids to get up close with some large animals. The experiences are still always memorable. There was the time at the Peoria Zoo when the giraffe wandered away and the keepers nervously called him for nearly 20 minutes in the attempt at satisfying those of us who had already paid. Another memorable one was at the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri, where the attendant at the giraffe feeding station was munching on the giraffe’s crackers while she awaited more customers. Still though, the first thing we often do at a new zoo is check out the day’s calendar and see if a giraffe feeding is a possibility.
2019 Animal Feedings
Most years, our goal is to see how many new zoos we can visit. As we entered 2019, we had our sights set on zoo 50 in the summer. Since we were only three zoos away, that gave us time to broaden our horizons to start the year. So we made a list of animal feedings that we wanted to experience and started planning our trips.
In May, we journeyed up to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and had the chance to feed penguins. This was a rare opportunity to step inside the actual exhibit. Each of us had the chance to toss five fish to the zoo’s penguin troop. Our favorite penguin was their male, Fat Tony.
In June, we traveled to the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend, Indiana. At this zoo we had the chance to feed their four bison. Our favorite was their largest male, Geronimo. Geronimo weighs about 1,800 pounds but was very fun to interact with. You can read about our entire bison feeding experience here.
In late June, we made a weekend trip to Indiana where we doubled up on animal feedings. Our first stop was to the Columbian Park Zoo in Lafayette, Indiana. Here we had the chance to feed a tamandua. You can read all about that here. The next day, we went to the Indianapolis Zoo, where we had the chance to feed flamingos. This experience was very unique. For this encounter, we held a small plastic cup filled with water and krill, and the flamingos approached us and ate all the krill. The eating motion sent waves through your hands as you tried to steady the cup!
Most Interesting Animal Feedings
The most interesting feeding was probably in 2017 at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa, where we had the chance to feed ostriches. They handed us a piece of lettuce, and basically a pair of salad tongs, and we held out the lettuce for it to be snatched up in a hurry by an ostrich. It was a very exhilarating feeling compared the normally low-key feedings that we had become accustomed to.
Goat feedings are a pretty common experience at zoos – so common that most of the time, we choose to just pet the goats, or even skip that portion all together. After all, the goat areas are usually pretty dirty, and travelling with 3 kids like we do, you usually don’t escape the area without some tears. But at Grant’s Farm in St. Louis, we seized the opportunity to not just feed the goats, but to feed them milk through baby bottles. Our daughters thought this was the best experience ever – that is until one of them sat in a pile of goat poop.
Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo was memorable for us because it was the first time we had fed sting rays in a warm climate. Typically we had fed them at zoos in the Midwest, which housed them in temporary enclosures. Because they were in their permanent home and the weather was nice, they were very active. That day produced several fun pictures of my wife and daughter being splashed by multiple hungry sting rays.
Branson’s Promised Land Zoo in Branson, Missouri gives you access to feed almost every animal they own. While only one of our daughters was brave enough to feed the baby emus, they all laughed with delight as they fed goats, camels, llamas, and kangaroos. It’s rare to have a chance to pet a kangaroo (or wallaby), so zoos that allow interaction with them – and maybe more importantly zoos where the kangaroos want that interaction – are ones that stick out to us.
Most Memorable Animal Feedings
Despite all of these fun experiences, our top animal feeding memories came from the Chehaw Park Zoo in Albany, Georgia. This zoo offered us multiple “firsts” in our animal feeding excursions.
Our day started with an opportunity to feed Sam the rhino. The friendly keepers allowed us to get right up next to him. We were able to give him a pet and establish a brief relationship, and then feed him some leaves. Later on in the day, those same keepers assisted us in feeding feed pellets to Bogart the camel. It was a dark hut and the pictures didn’t turn out well, but with his excess saliva and 2 front teeth jutting out crookedly towards my daughter, we enjoyed her shrieks of excitement.
But the best feeding of the day was down at the swamp, where we tossed food into the water for the alligators. Just like you might see at a fish hatchery, the alligators swarmed all over each other to grab the food. This feeding was memorable because not only was it the first time we had walked down a boardwalk into a completely swampy atmosphere to view alligators, but we had never dreamed of feeding them.
The staff was again super friendly, giving us facts about how long a single pellet could last the alligators, while also pointing out to us their oldest (and largest) alligator, Charlie. To this day when we see an alligator at a zoo, our daughter remembers “Old Charlie”, and we reminisce about our day at the Chehaw Park Zoo.
Feeding animals – another reason for you to get out there and Zoo With Us!
Full List of animals we’ve fed:
- Alligators
- Anteaters
- Bison
- Budgies
- Camels
- Chickens
- Cows
- Ducks
- Elephants
- Emus
- Flamingos
- Goats
- Giraffes
- Kangaroos
- Llamas
- Lorikeets
- Ostriches
- Parakeets
- Penguins
- Sting Rays
- Tamandua
- Wallabies
- Yak
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