Some might argue that the “hottest” zoo animal right now is the sloth. Sloths seem to be all the rage, and we too jumped in on this trend by having a sloth encounter earlier this year. But we firmly believe that everyone has a soft spot in their hearts for penguins. After a recent Penguin encounter at the Brookfield Zoo, we also believe that you need to have a penguin encounter as well! Luckily, you have many options.
Choosing Your Encounter
If you’re going to pick a zoo to have your penguin encounter at, you need to think about two questions. First, how much are you willing to spend? Second, how much of an interaction are you looking for? We’ve now done two different types of encounters at two different price points. We recommend both encounters! However, if you’re looking for just one, you need to think about this up front!
Classroom Interaction
Our recent encounter at the Brookfield Zoo was in a classroom setting. In a group of about 15 people, the keepers brought in three male Humboldt Penguins – Pepe, Pedro, and Pops. The penguins chose to follow the keeper into the encounter, and had free reign to go wherever they wanted. Participants in this $40 encounter had the chance to pet the penguins, and watch them waddle around. While one of the penguins (Pedro) isn’t excited about being touched, visitors still enjoyed watching him roam around the room. Check out a video from the encounter here.
The positive of the classroom interaction is that is very controlled. When most people think about having an animal encounter, they think about tangibles like touching the animal. If this is something you’re interested in, Brookfield’s encounter for $40 is a pretty good deal. Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo offers something very similar. The St. Louis Zoo‘s penguin encounter is slightly more expensive at $60/person. However, this zoo allows you to have a classroom encounter, and then also tour the exhibit with the zoo keepers.
Entering the Exhibit
Instead of meeting the penguins in a classroom setting, other zoos give you a chance to go into the exhibit. We experienced this at the NEW Zoo (Northeast Wisconsin) in Green Bay. At the NEW Zoo, we walked behind the scenes, into the penguin exhibit, and each of us had the opportunity to toss five fish to the assembled group of penguins. This encounter did not include any physical interaction with the penguins. However, this is the cheapest penguin encounter that we’ve seen, even compared to other “feed-only” encounters.
While on vacation this summer we watched some guests go into the penguin exhibit for a feeding opportunity at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, PA. While this encounter did not include physical touching, the guests were mere inches away from the penguins with no barriers.
Worth a Splurge
If you have a strong love of penguins and also have the opportunity to splurge on an animal encounter, we recommend you check out the Cincinnati Zoo. On our vacation this summer, we watched some zoo guests walk into the King Penguin exhibit at the zoo, accompanied by a photographer. This encounter requires the deepest pockets, as it costs $250 for a pair of guests. You can check out the details here.
In addition to these penguin encounters, on our animal bucket list is a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo or Pittsburgh Zoo in the winter to see their “penguin march”, as they guide the penguins through the zoo on a parade-like march.
For a full list of penguin encounters in the Midwest, check out our chart below. Hopefully you can find one near you and satisfy the itch that I know is inside you to have a penguin encounter!
Want to see which penguin exhibits are our favorite? Check out our list here.
© 2019, Zoo With Us. All rights reserved.