Petting zoos typically are a matter of goats and sheep, but the Indianapolis Zoo has something else in mind for its Oceans exhibit: shark touching.
Work in progress: Terri Stacy of WIBC-AM (1070) checks out a polar bear relaxing at the Indianapolis Zoo’s Oceans exhibit. Media members got a sneak peek Monday at renovations to the exhibit, set to open May 26, which will feature a "touch pool” with dog sharks.
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The "touch pond" is the cornerstone of the zoo’s Oceans exhibit, which, after a $9.5 million remodeling, re-opens May 26.
The building today is all dust and new drywall, but the pond is well along toward completion. It is vaguely rectangular, surrounded by a knee-high wall. It’s no bigger than a backyard swimming pool and shallower, only 3 feet deep.
It will be home to a couple of dozen dog sharks at any one time. One of them is nearly 6 feet long, and the rest soon will be as large.
They’re not layabouts, either, like the zoo’s previous marquee sharks — nurse sharks that, you may recall, rested on the bottom 24-7, appearing deceased.
Dog sharks patrol constantly. They won’t maim zoo-goers, however, said Bruce Elkins, the exhibit’s curator. Their teeth are "rasping," sandpaperlike, instead of daggerlike. And they won’t mind being touched, either. The sharks’ handlers are working with them behind the scenes, getting them acclimated to people, Elkins said.
Zoo officials will be on hand to supervise the action. The correct way to touch a shark, Elkins said, is with two fingers and behind the animal’s eyes.
What is gained by people touching sharks? "The more people understand something, the more they’re comfortable with it, the more they’ll want to protect it,” Elkins said. "The ultimate goal of the zoo is stewardship and conservation."
"Sharks have such a bad reputation," said the zoo’s public relations director, Judy Gagan, "and this (exhibit) could help change that."
Zoos and aquariums in several other cities have shark petting, or ray petting, but this is the first time Hoosiers will be invited to get tactile with a live shark.
Elsewhere in the building is the popular polar bear exhibit, where you can observe the animal swimming underwater. It remains the same, as does the seal exhibit, but don’t attempt to pet the seals.
The only fish now in the building are two dozen moray eels. They arrived in their new tank Monday morning.
Immediately, they all went and hid in the various nooks and crannies and stayed there most of the day.
The sharks will make the move at the end of April, so that by the time the public comes through, they’ll be at ease with their surroundings.
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