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Yikes_Brigade t1_j6av5is wrote

PSA/the best thing my therapist has ever told me: At the Pittsburgh zoo, you can pay 200 bucks for you and a buddy to feed and hang out with a red panda. She told me this after I said my new goal was to figure out how much money I had to donate to the National Zoo to get to hold one.

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dolphinandcheese t1_j6b6ole wrote

So my best friend got married at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. I paid $300 for a handler to bring a penguin to the reception for photos. Everyone loved it. That penguin was awesome.

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JustHereForCookies17 t1_j6ewprp wrote

IIRC - the Baltimore Zoo has a "Penguin Ambassador" program that gives you a similar option if you get married there.

My friend did it at her wedding, pre-Covid.

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Macrophage87 t1_j6e4bvf wrote

I checked, and you can't touch the animals at encounters anymore in the Pittsburgh zoo. Most mammals can get COVID and don't always have effective vaccines, so distance is probably sticking around for a while.

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Yikes_Brigade t1_j6e4z7l wrote

Well fuck. If I can’t pick it up and bounce it like a baby in front of me then idk anymore.

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Mostlyvivace830 t1_j6en67n wrote

If you are willing to drive a little further to Wheeling, WV, the zoo at Oglebay has meet and greets with certain animals including red pandas.

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JustHereForCookies17 t1_j6exrqc wrote

u/Yikes_Brigade, you should check this out. I Googled the zoo based on Mostly's comment (I wanted to see if it was one of those awful road-side places or a legit institution) and OMFG YOU CAN PLAY WITH ALL THE CRITTERS!!!

https://oglebay.com/good-zoo/animal-encounters/

Mostlyvivace, you're a real one. This is awesome. Thank you for introducing this into my life.

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Mostlyvivace830 t1_j6ezmmm wrote

Of course! I'm somewhat of a red panda fan myself 🙂

The zoo isn't publicly funded like Smithsonian but from what I could tell, they take good care of the critters.

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JustHereForCookies17 t1_j6f1xfj wrote

I was going to ask, but I remembered I could Google it my damn self just as easily.

Looks like it's accredited and donations can be claimed on your taxes. I'm sure there are better metrics to go by, but those two are good enough for me.

Now if you'll excuse me - I have to go empty my bank account so I can do ALL the animal experiences!

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