A zoo in Lujan, a city near Buenos Aires, Argentina, allows visitors to pet, feed and hang around with a wide variety of wild animals for about $25 a person, according to Yahoo.com.
The Lujan Zoo opened in 1994 and includes physical interaction with lions, tigers, bears and monkeys, just to name a few, according to Yahoo.
The lions and tigers have been reported to be so docile visitors have questioned whether they are being doped, Yahoo reported. Photos posted on the web show people of all ages petting and taking pictures as the animals lay around.
According to zoo officials, the animals are constantly fed throughout the day, making them calm around visitors, Yahoo reported. The animals have been born and raised in captivity and trainers claim they do not see people or other animals as food.
According to Santiago Semino, a Lujan Zoo official, the 80 lion and tigers at the zoo"don't know what hunger is. They don't see any other animals as food. They get food all day," according to Yahoo.
Since the zoo opened, there have been no reported incidents of any mishap or accident involving visitors and there is no evidence proving the animals are actually sedated, beside their lazy appearance described by visitors, Yahoo reported.
"These animals are not sedated. They do not receive drugs," Semino told Yahoo.
Semino said the cause for the tender and calm behavior is the result of "imprinting," a method he says happens due to the animals being raised since birth with dogs by their trainers, giving them canine-like habits and instincts, according to Yahoo.
Semino also added lions and tigers sleep between 10 to 12 hours a day, which may account for the sleepiness visitors describe, Yahoo reported.
Visitor reviews seem mixed: many are overwhelmed by the fact of being next to a living, breathing, and sometimes roaring lion, but other visitors leave contemplating whether its too good to be true, according to Yahoo.
Born Free USA, a wildlife protection organization which tracks exotic-animal incidents in the United States, said in an email that getting close to any wild animal is "a risky idea," according to Yahoo.
"Wildlife belongs in the wild," Will Travers, CEO of Born Free USA, told Yahoo. "Evidence from incidents nationwide in America and more broadly in other countries shows conclusively that wild animals such as lions, tigers and bears, whether bred in captivity or taken from the wild, maintain their inner - and potentially dangerous - 'wildness.' Allowing any close contact with wild animals such as these is like playing Russian roulette."
