Throughout the twentieth century, one of the many reasons people have
been drawn to toes is for the opportunity to interact with less famili
ar animal species. Major venues of direct human-animal interaction in
toes are animal rides, demonstrations, children's toes, and public fee
dings. Visitor interest is so strong in these programs that people are
willing to pay additional fees in order to participate in them. In th
is paper we discuss hour these activities might enhance or detract fro
m the education and conservation missions of toes, and describe the po
tential effect of human-animal interactions on zoo animal welfare.