PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A new experience at the Philadelphia Zoo lets visitors feed the giraffes by hand.
For an extra $6, guests can get up close and personal with the zoo's three tallest residents: 21-year-old Stella; her daughter, 12-year-old Abby; and adopted daughter Bea, who just turned 3.
Animal keeper Dawn Madzarac has been training and desensitizing them to the changes.
"Putting this in a platform where you are bringing guests closer to them and a new railing, a new fence line, was really new to them. It took a few days of them staring at us, not sure why they would want to come over to a new area and grab food," she said. "Just getting them accustomed to a new area and hand-feeding smaller pieces of leaves at various times of the day."
And when guests are that up close, they are bound to notice giraffes' massive, purplish tongues — which are 18 inches long.
"Giraffes use their tongues to grab the leaves off of the branch that you are offering, so they might drool a little bit or they might lick your finger," Madzarac explained. "It's part of the experience — it's part of being up close and personal."
Giraffes are considered vulnerable in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Populations have decreased by 40% over the last three decades due mostly to poaching and habitat loss.
Giraffe Feeding Encounter tickets cannot be purchased in advance. The experience is open daily from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
