Have you ever experienced Animals encounter programs?

I've been to a few places where I've had close encounters with animals but I'm not sure if that's what your question is after. I've fed an elephant, fed kangaroos and held a baby monkey but a lot of these places were wildlife sanctuaries so pretty hands on. I paid to swim with dolphins once which was an actual encounter type thing and that was beautiful. For some of the places I've travelled to, even though I've wanted to meet and greet certain animals my research showed me that certain 'sanctuaries' or 'zoos' were to be avoided due to the way they abused their animals. As a tourist I think it's important to give your custom and money to places that genuinely care for the animals welfare. There are a lot of attractions based around animals that are very cruel. I try to research places I visit on my travels so that I'm not just adding to the issue.

by helenonthesofa

Had a close encounter with the kangaroos at Hellisville sanctuary.
Loved the experience.

by Radhika

What's an animal encounter program? Do you mean through a school? My daughter's daycare had a program where they brought in fertilised eggs and hatched out chicks. The kids liked it. We've also had contact with native animals at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. The kids patted some kangaroos, like in the picture, which they enjoyed.

by Jennifer Muirhead

Fed wallabies and cuddled koala at the Moonlit Sanctuary.

by Smita

Not yet..

by omkar

Years ago when my daughter was four and it was hysterical. She didn't quite grasp the concept that when an Emu demands your bag of food you should surrender it. She was yelling No at this demanding Emu and starts running with her bag of food. The Emu takes off after her and myself and a collection of interested adults took after them both. Worthy of a comedy sketch it did end well but the Emu was only sidetracked by a larger bag of food and my daughter got to keep her bag of food. As a parent there was the odd moment of terror but it all worked out well and is now one of those family tales which we all have a giggle over at family reunions.

image sourced wikipedia commons

by Shelley Murphy

Comedy when you think about it now. But at that moment I'm sure you were tearing apart with fear

I had a wild dolphin encounter in Queensland and it was magical. Also have been to many at wildlife parks and seen kangaroos, koalas and reptiles up close.

by Sarah Bell

No, I haven't,except for an elephant in Zimbabwe. We were in the 4WD & 1 came up very close to us. We were asked not to take any photos, as it may be startled. It had very long black eye lashes! At the time I thought, "This would have to be better than having a Million $'s"! It was a lovely experience!

by Miro