Calls grow to stop zoos from letting visitors touch animals in defiance of ban

A baby lion cub in Korea engages in tug game with a keeper as visitors watch in fascination from behind the fence. Courtesy of Animal Welfare Research Institute Aware

Calls are growing to end direct contact animal experiences at zoos across Korea, as new findings show many facilities continue to defy a legal ban on riding, touching and feeding animals more than two years after it took effect.

Animal welfare advocates and lawmakers said the gap between the law and practice is exposing animals to chronic stress and sending the wrong message to children about wildlife.

At a National Assembly forum Monday, Animal Welfare Research Institute AWARE and the Animal Welfare Parliamentary Forum presented findings from an eight-month survey of 21 registered or licensed zoos and nine unlicensed facilities across the country. The study reviewed compliance with the revised Act on the Management of Zoos and Aquariums, which since late 2023 has prohibited zoos from allowing visitors to climb on, touch or feed animals for entertainment purposes.

Despite the legal shift, 20 out of 21 surveyed zoos were still selling feed for animal encounters, and 15 imposed no limits on purchase frequency or feeding volume. In 18 facilities, visitors could touch animals at any time without guidance from keepers, according to AWARE.

Lee Hyung-joo, head of AWARE, said such conditions fuel competition and aggression among animals and undermine their welfare.

“We confirmed cases where certain individuals monopolized food and where competition and aggression between animals intensified,” Lee said, adding that these counters “clearly contradict the purpose of the law.”

This combined photo shows visitors petting wild animals at zoos in Korea. Courtesy of Animal Welfare Research Institute Aware

Education was often used as a justification, but rarely delivered on practice. “Our survey found that only three facilities offered even a single species-specific explanation on conservation,” Lee noted. “Some even described animals as ‘beginner species for rare animal keeping’ or ‘easy-to-raise animals,’ effectively encouraging people to keep wild animals at home.”

Unlicensed or partially licensed businesses were found to be exploiting loopholes.

Some exotic animal cafes, where live mammal displays are now banned, labeled meerkats as “for sale” animals while in practice using them for display and petting sessions. Other operators appeared to avoid zoo permit thresholds by splitting operations across floors of the same building under different business registrations, keeping the total animals per unit below the legal standard.

Lee urged lawmakers to go beyond revising administrative manuals and instead remove educational exemptions that allow feeding and touching programs to continue. “It is difficult to regulate indiscriminate encounters by tweaking the education plan manual alone,” she said. “To honor the spirit of the law, we need a full ban on touching and feeding by visitors, and a fundamental redefinition of what zoo education should be.”

Some zoo professionals at the forum backed the call for change while proposing alternatives.

Kim Jeong-ho, head of the veterinary and husbandry team at Cheongju Zoo in North Chungcheong Province, said his zoo had phased out feeding programs and redesigned its education offerings. Cheongju Zoo, recently designated as Korea’s first regional hub zoo for animal welfare, has focused on creating more spacious, habitat-based enclosures and education-centered programs that prioritize animal well-being over visitor entertainment.

“In the past, Cheongju Zoo also operated feeding events, but now we run our programs differently,” he said, recalling a recent open health check in which visitors listened to a snake’s heartbeat.

“People were amazed just hearing the sound,” he added, suggesting zoos could use animal models at enclosure fronts and medical imaging footage to explain anatomy and behavior instead of relying on physical contact.

Han Jae-ik, a professor at Jeonbuk National University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said, “It is hard to regard animal encounters as education. We need effective measures to reform the profit-driven structure of these experience programs.”