SANFORD, Fla. – While the national spotlight was on the Brevard Zoo after a 2-year-old girl was injured during a rhino encounter, zoo administrators, like Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Garden CEO Dino Ferri, were watching closely.
"I reached out to them to let them know if they needed anything, we're here to help if needed," Ferri said.
Both the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Garden and the Brevard Zoo are members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and abide by its policies, which can be viewed here.
The Central Florida Zoo also has a rhino encounter, with several notable differences.
First, guests at the Central Florida Zoo have the opportunity to touch a greater one-horned rhino named PJ, whereas the Brevard Zoo offers a close-up encounter with its four white rhinos. White rhinos come from parts of Africa and are slightly larger than greater one-horned rhinos, which originate from India.
"Before our encounters, the staff gives a big safety speech to let everyone know what not to do," Ferri said. "Like have your arms in between the animal and the pipes. So they don't get scared or startled and crush anything."
The zoo in Sanford also limits their encounters with PJ the rhino to up to five people so two handlers can watch closely in a designated area, which has horizontal bars, as opposed to the vertical bars at the encounter at the Brevard Zoo.
When the rhino encounter was put in at the Central Florida Zoo five or six years ago, there was even an added horizontal bar put in for safety.