I heard a lot of zoos are doing a photo experience encounter, like holding a parrots, snakes or even baby crocodiles But to be honest what are really the best animals for this experience?
I've heard of a few zoos here in the US allowing photo ops with the some of the Cheetahs they use as animal ambassadors, but the keeper/handler is also in the photo and the animal is under their control at all times. I don't know which zoos are allowing this though.
Domestic dogs, like the one used as companion animals for cheetahs and help with elephants. Speaking of which, the sheer size of elephants, rhinos, and giraffes make for easy photography of them in my opinion.
I think as long as the animal is well trained and feeling comfortable with the situation then all animal can be the "best" for this
Personally, I think owls take the cake. They are so beautiful and Graceful. I love owls, they’re one of my favorite animals, and I think that they make for awesome photos
Do you mean where you actually get to hold the animals? For AZA zoos, at least, you're pretty much limited to reptiles, occasionally a bird of prey or parrot. A few will do penguins or small mammals but those are rare. It varies, some will step aside and try to keep themselves out, some the trainers stay right there. Only one or two zoos specifically do cheetahs as a "photo op", rather than a BTS/ambassador thing where you might be able to take some photos, possibly a selfie. In some places, like Bronx, the room is too small and the groups are too large to allow for that, though you can take your own cell phone pics.
What TinoPup said. Depends on the regulations that a zoo follows. Also depends on what animals you like, of course. I love Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys and Cotton Headed Tamarins but I also love Atlas Moths and Leaf Insects! I'd recommend checking if your local zoo offers a 'meet the animals' experience. Normally such packages will allow you to come behind the scene (or into an enclosure) and hand-feed animals. This gets you an opportunity to take closeup selfies with them. London Zoo offers many of these experiences but I'd recommend the one with Emperor Tamarins, Lionheaded Tamarians and TiTi Monkeys.
I made this document for myself earlier this month, might as well share it. It's every* tour, behind the scenes, etc at all of the AZA zoos in the USA, organized by state and then alphabetically. If the zoo's description specifically mentioned touching, handling, or anything else, I included that. *Since it's for myself, I didn't include anything where you had to be younger than an adult, or most things that require large groups. I also didn't include common, cheap things if they only cost a few dollars/weren't part of a specific BTS event, like giraffe and ray feedings and camel rides. I did include cheap feeding things if they were unusual species, like Tracy Aviary's pelican feeding.
off tangent from the OP but Tinopup, this is an epic share! I'm very tempted to convert this into a Google Sheet or Airtable database for wider and easier consumption. Then using it as a foundation to build something similar for international zoos. With proper credit to you and making it publically available, can I?
Thanks! I exported the PDF to word already. Now just have to write a script to convert it into a table I'll share it with you via DM once I've done that.
I usually do spreadsheets (so many spreadsheets) but I couldn't think of an easy way to organize this stuff
