[www.keralites.net] Zoo With Friendly Animals

 

Too close for comfort?
The zoo where visitors can give a tiger a belly-rub, rub noses with a lion or share food with a bear.

• Visitors claim animals are drugged, but zoo says it is down to training
• Zoo has reportedly had no animal attacks since it opened in 1994
• Claims keeping animals fed helps keep them calm and passive
  

By James Rush

They are some of the animal kingdom's most feared predators, known for their ferocity and natural killing instinct.
But a zoo in Argentina allows visitors to get up close and personal with some of the most dangerous animals in the world. And if these pictures are anything to go by, visitors at Lujan Zoo are not only able to cuddle a tiger, rub noses with a lion and hand-feed a bear - they are also able to walk away at the end of it to tell the tale.

Up close: A visitor gives a tame-looking lion a quick peck on his nose

Tame? This tiger seems to be enjoying itself as a visitor rubs its belly

Feeding time: The zoo received this brown bear, which appears to be eating something directly out of a visitor's mouth, when it was two months old.

Since it opened in 1994, there have been no reports of attacks, according to grindtv.com, although there is some debate as to exactly why that is. While some visitors claim the animals must be drugged, the zoo says the animals' tameness comes from raising each cub from birth and teaching them to be calm and uninterested in eating people. The zoo claims keeping the animals constantly fed helps to keep them calm and passive, along with the training given. Lions were among some of the animals at the zoo when it opened, along with a monkey, two donkeys, two ponies, llama, deer and peacocks.

Friendly: Some visitors claim the animals are drugged, but the zoo puts their tameness down to training and keeping them fed

Safe? There have reportedly been no attacks at the zoo since it opened in 1994

As well as bears, tigers and lions the zoo holds two female elephants, a wide variety of reptiles and birds. Many of the animals at the zoo are said to be former illegal house pets, offered to the zoo after they have outgrown their homes. According to the zoo's website, it currently holds more than 50 African lions, 20 Bengal tigers, 12 mountain lions and about 50 different species of South American monkeys.

Child's play? A child is left to play alongside lion cubs at the zoo

Attraction: Along with bears, tigers and lions the zoo features two female elephants, a wide variety of reptiles and birds

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