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Even though photo ops, hand-feedings, and other public encounters are highly disruptive to vulnerable baby wild and exotic animals, Zootastic Park in Troutman, North Carolina, still forces baby sloths, kangaroos, giraffes, primates, and others into these stressful situations.
The babies are torn away from their mothers in order to be used for public encounters. Just like baby humans, baby wild mammals need the constant comfort of their mother, including her milk, warmth, and companionship, and they need to be left undisturbed so that they can rest and develop properly. Despite dangers like cold and heat stress, malnutrition, exhaustion, and infectious diseases, Zootastic keeps exploiting new babies to make a quick buck from their misery. When they get too big, they’re commonly shipped off to other roadside zoos or dumped in one of Zootastic’s cramped, barren enclosures.
It’s no surprise, then, that Zootastic has racked up a number of animal welfare violations, including for “euthanizing” rabbits by hitting them with a hammer, for not even noticing goats’ obvious limps, and for failing to notify a veterinarian that multiple wolves had open wounds on their ears consistent with chronic flystrike and in need of medical treatment.
Please urge Zootastic to stop exploiting babies and retire the animals to reputable facilities where they could get the care that they desperately need.