Gain unprecedented access to animals and experiences in our series of exclusive interactions! Guests can purchase highly-sought feeding sessions with our adorable river otters, take part in a training session with the giraffes, and much more!
Encounters cannot exceed the amount of people listed for the encounter. We cannot allow children under the age requirement. Each encounter must have an adult over 18, who is included in the total.
ENCOUNTERS
Otter Feeding
Rocky and Piper are ready to meet you and they heard you have snacks! Enjoy this awesome opportunity to get up to close to our otters (through mesh) and feed them some of their favorite treats. These charismatic members of the zoo family will also demonstrate their terrific training skills and be sure to make you smile. Keepers will be on hand to answer all your questions and tell you about their favorite otter antics.
This experience will last 30 minutes.
Admission for up to 2 guests; for ages 10 and up
Available 2:30 pm, Wednesday through Sunday.
Sloth Encounter
Meet one of EPZ's newest additions to its animal family in this one-of-a-kind experience with Liana, the two-toed sloth. Learn from her keepers all about what it takes to raise and care for such a unique animal.
Guests are not allowed to hold or touch our sloth.
This experience will last 30 minutes.
Admission for up to 4 guests; for ages 8 and up
Available 9:00 am, Wednesday through Sunday.
Giraffe VIP experience
Looking for a TALL adventure? It’s time to get face-to-neck with our VIP giraffe experience! This incredible up-close experience includes a private giraffe feeding with Gerald, Dhoruba and Mokolo, a chance to meet our amazing giraffe keepers, and a unique opportunity to observe a training demonstration. Last but not least, before you leave you will have the chance to have a custom giraffe kiss painting made for you by our boys!
Available April to October
Admission for up to 6 guests; for ages 6 and up
Playtime for Penny
Penny the American alligator absolutely enjoys playing with her toys (enrichment) in her exhibit. During this brand new experience, guests will help us choose Penny's enrichment for the day, enter her exhibit (at a safe distance, behind a gate), and learn all about her history and training. Guests will have an up-close, unique experience and get to interact with Penny by tossing her a toy before the encounter comes to an end.
Available June to October
This experience will last 30 minutes.
Admission for up to 2 guests; for ages 10 and up. Only available Thursday – Sunday.
Guests under 18 must accompanied by an adult.
Chinchilla Treatment
Ever heard of puppy treatment when you have a bad day and just want to cuddle a group of puppies? Try Chinchilla Treatment and come have play time with our ambassador chinchillas from the Education Department! You will get to feed, play, and possibly even train the chinchillas that you might have seen us use during programs here at the zoo.
This experience will last 30 minutes.
Admission for up to 4 guests; recommended for ages 5 and up.
Snacks with Pokey
Who has 30,000 quills and love snacks? Pokey, our North American Porcupine. Join us to feed Pokey his daily snacks and get an opportunity to meet a porcupine up close and personal. Educators will be on hand to answer all your questions and snap plenty of photos.
This experience will last 30 minutes.
Admission for up to 4 guests; recommended for ages 6 and up.
Flight of the Vulture
Experience first hand the power and beauty of a bird's flight in this Elmwood Encounter! You will personally participate in a training session with our black vulture, getting an up close look at several different behaviors and how we train them. This includes a flight demonstration where you will have the opportunity to catch our vulture on the glove and hopefully gain a new appreciation for the unique adaptations and importance of these misunderstood birds!
This experience will last 45 minutes.
Admission for up to 4 guests; for ages 10 and up
Whistling Duck Delight
Join us as we waddle around with our feathery, flipper-footed friends! You will have the opportunity to assist in a duck training session with our educators, learning all about their adaptations and the fun behaviors whistling ducks can display. Enjoy a duck "pool party", feed them their favorite treats, and try your best to join along in their whistling songs!
This experience will last 30 minutes.
Admission for up to 4 guests; for ages 4 and up
RABBIT RETREAT
Ever heard of puppy treatment when you have a bad day and just want to cuddle a group of puppies? What about a velveteen lop rabbit treatment? During this encounter, you will have the opportunity to feed our rabbits snacks, take plenty of photos, and interact with our rabbits that live behind the scenes at the zoo!
This experience will last 30 minutes.
Admission for up to 4 guests; for ages 4 and up.
Tour the Zoo with our Donkeys
Do you like to take slow walks to enjoy the scenary and maybe nibble on some grass? Then taking our donkeys on a short tour of the Zoo is for you! Pickles and Jenny love to take slow walks around the Zoo to visit their friends and would love to have you along for the journey. During your adventure you will get to walk and brush our donkeys as well as learn all about them from their terrific keepers.
Available March to November
9:15AM Wednesday through Sunday
This experience will last 30 minutes.
Admission for up to 4 guests; for ages 4 and up.
OWL Obsession
Do you love owls? Enjoy an up-close interactive experience with a few owl ambassadors from our Education Department! During this experience, you will learn about cool owl adaptations and learn the best ways to find owls in their natural habitat. Take as many pictures as you want during this once in a lifetime opportunity!
This experience will last 45 minutes.
Admission for up to 4 guests recommended for ages 5 and up.
REPTILE Rendezvous
Are you one of those people that adore all things reptile? During this experience you will meet different reptiles from our ambassador collection. Love turtles? We can focus on them! Prefer snakes or lizards? No problem, you can meet them too! No matter which reptiles you love, you will get to learn about their different habitats and the conservation efforts that protect them.
This experience will last 45 minutes.
Admission for up to 4 guests; recommended for ages 5 and up.
Program Booking
Guests can purchase an experience above and then email our Education Department Manager at education@elmwoodparkzoo.org to schedule a date (the dates for Otter Feedings, Sloth Encounters and Playtime with Penny are chosen at time of purchase). In your email, please, provide a list of three dates that you would prefer for the experience so the education department may choose the best day for your group! Programs will need to be scheduled at least two weeks in advance.
Payment
Cost of experiences will vary and can be found above.
Cancellation
Cancellations must be emailed to education@elmwoodparkzoo.org 48 hours in advance to program date. We do not offer refunds, but will try to reschedule if necessary.
Requirements
All encounters also require at least one adult for supervision of children under 18 years of age.
All experiences are limited to a certain amount per group and we do not accommodate under the age of 3 years.
Experience
We cannot guarantee you will get to touch the animals or guarantee any specific activities due to the needs of our animals and the variability of their behavior.
At this time, we ask for information ahead of time to accommodate service animals during Encounters as it may affect our animals’ behavior. If you or a group member have a special need or mobility need, please inform us in advance during booking.