Wild Adventures: Animal Encounters at Oglebay Good Zoo in Wheeling, West Virginia

Birthdays in recent years have followed the same formula as many of my other trips: find a deal on airfare, a decently-priced hotel, and then pick some fun and cheap things to do.

This year was different. This was the year Michael uttered a proclamation I didn’t even know I needed to hear: “Let’s go meet the otters and red pandas.”

And so we booked an animal encounter at the Oglebay Good Zoo in Wheeling, West Virginia, to meet my two favorite animals ever.

Now that we’re back, I thought it would be fun to share a firsthand look at this unique experience, from start to finish. Whether you’re considering an animal encounter or simply want to look at some cute animal photos, I’ve got you covered:

BOOKING ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS AT OGLEBAY GOOD ZOO

The booking process was fairly straightforward if a little clunky; the website presented us with a list of animals and a choice of several timeframes. The system asked us to select an animal/time combination before selecting a date, so it took a bit of clicking around to find a day on the calendar where both an otter encounter and a red panda encounter were available.

[Edit: Otter encounters are no longer available at Oglebay Good Zoo]

We had to settle for a Friday encounter as there was no weekend availability in April (if you’re new here, I typically avoid taking days off work for short-term travel if I can help it – that way I can save my vacation days for extended international vacations). We agreed to the terms and conditions presented on the page, paid in advance, and that was that – we were going to meet the otters and red pandas!

EXPLORING OGLEBAY GOOD ZOO

The evening before our encounter, we flew to the nearest major airport, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, giving us just enough time to grab an early dinner and head to bed for a good night’s sleep before the big day. On Friday morning, we left Pittsburgh with plenty of time to make it to the zoo; despite encountering some traffic along the way, we managed to arrive about twenty minutes before it opened.

With such a short amount of time to kill, we simply walked around the area near the entrance and settled in to watch a small herd of deer grazing in the nearby meadow. Finally, at opening time, we joined the line that had now formed at the entrance. Zoo admission is included with your encounter, so once we made it to the ticket counter we were instructed to head to the zoo office and check in.

The check-in process was simple, mainly consisting of us verifying our personal information and signing a waiver. We were provided with a $25 gift card to spend anywhere at the resort as a result of booking more than one encounter. The woman at the desk was beyond excited for us and also a little surprised that we had traveled all the way from Florida to visit their zoo.

We still had several hours before our scheduled encounters, so we explored the rest of what the zoo had to offer – starting with the small train ride through a portion of the park. We felt a little out of place, being the only childless adults on the train, and barely fit into the teeny-tiny row together. The train served as a nice view of the front of the park, and we got to see the zebra and reindeer up close. It was only well after we deboarded the train that we realized there was an upcharge to ride. Whoops.

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We walked the oval-shaped path through the zoo, stopping to look at all of the animals along the route. Most were behind barriers, but I was surprised to find that the kangaroos and wallabies were in an area that we could walk through (I’ve often heard that they are mean – haven’t you?). Visitors are instructed to stay on the walkways, but the marsupials don’t have to follow the rules and bound over the low ropes and across the sidewalks.

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MEETING OTTERS AND RED PANDAS AT OGLEBAY GOOD ZOO

Finally, the time arrived for our encounters, and we set out for the office to meet the keepers: one who had many years of experience at the zoo and another who was in training. When we scheduled the encounters online, we chose a 1:00 – 1:45 p.m. time slot for our otter encounter and a 2:00 – 2:45 p.m. slot for the red panda encounter, which is why we were surprised that the golf cart the staff drove us on stopped at the red panda exhibit shortly after 1:00 p.m. No matter, though, as long as we got to meet both animals we were happy!

We disinfected our shoes in a container and were provided with gloves to wear when feeding the animals. Apparently, it is a mandated protection meant for us as we’re handling food, not for the safety of the animals. The weather had warmed considerably by this time, and both red pandas had left their warmer outdoor habitat for their cooler indoor areas.

We were led into a small concrete block building and each red panda was in a separate area, with a closed door between them. The keeper provided a little information about the species, noting that they’re in a class of their own despite their resemblance to pandas, raccoons, and foxes.

Now, I love learning, but being so close to these gentle, adorable animals made it tough to focus on what the keeper was saying. I think she could sense this, and just a moment later she placed a container full of apples, raisins, and grapes in our hands and introduced us to Amber, a fourteen-year-old female. Amber perked up when she noticed the apple slices, and before the keeper could instruct us how to feed her, she had already snatched the apple slice out of my hand with her paw.

She had both a sweet tooth and a sweet temperament; she reminded me a bit of my twenty-year-old family cat. We soon progressed to feeding her grapes and raisins, which Amber was also very excited about. Michael and I took turns feeding her and enjoying being up close to this impossibly cute creature. The keeper showed us how to hold our hands a little further away from her face so she would reach out for our hands with her paw. Though her claws were sharp, every movement was gentle and intentional, and we loved the feeling of having her reach for us.

We attempted a “scavenger hunt” enrichment activity, placing raisins and grapes around her so she could seek them out. All three of us half-heartedly participated in this enrichment; Michael and I wanted to feed her from up close and she also seemed happier to eat right out of our hands. Finally, she tuckered out, and it was time to attempt to interact with Junjie, the younger male.

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The keeper informed us that Junjie was still new to the encounters and that he might choose not to interact with us. I appreciated how the zookeepers let the red pandas take the lead on our encounters, never forcing them to do anything they didn’t want to.

The keepers let him out of his enclosure to check us out before deciding whether he wanted to interact with us. He immediately walked over to mark his territory (apparently Michael’s presence intimidated him!) and wandered around for a few minutes. Thankfully, he was excited about our encounter and chose to spend time with us – a lot of time in fact.

We could see the huge personality difference between the two red pandas right away. Amber was slower and more methodical, while Junjie had a decent amount of rascal within him and spent a lot more time walking around. Apples didn’t suit him, and raisins were easily shunned; it was all grapes, all the time for Junjie.

He also was less hesitant in going for what he wanted, even standing up and placing his front paws on my leg to reach for the grapes in my hand (which left the cutest paw print on my pants!). For the red panda who took months to warm up to the idea of encounters, he certainly has it down pat now. We spent the better part of an hour interacting with these sweet, heart-warming animals, and honestly, I could have stayed with them all day. Our time came to leave, though, and off we went to meet the otters.

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Our encounter with the otters was vastly different than the red panda encounter – different enough that I nearly wondered if I ended up at a separate zoo. Instead of a warm, mellow, and intimate experience, our otter encounter was a bit like running the 100-meter dash – almost over before it began.

We were paired up with a different set of zookeepers, one of whom was also in training. The experienced keeper took command right away, explaining that we would not be able to get too close to the animals and must feed them by throwing the fish and “meatballs.” We were sandwiched in between the keepers for our safety, and each given a plastic container of fish to throw.

Immediately the otters were out of the water begging for food, not unlike a dog. As soon as we tossed one of our fish toward the water, they were in and back out, standing in front of us ready for the next fish. I could tell the fish in my container were going to dwindle quickly, so I began quickly tearing them in half to spend more time with the otters (I’m not quite sure if I was supposed to do that or not – but it worked!).

We moved on to the raw “meatballs” for Pasa, the more active otter, while the more subdued otter, Catori, was given a large piece of frozen fish which she climbed out of the water to gnaw on.

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It was clear that the otter keepers were very concerned about us getting too close to the animals; if they approached us past a certain rocky area within the enclosure the main keeper would bark at the otters to “get back!” Rather than immediately retreating, the otters would simply lean back as far as they could to avoid having to actually take steps backward. I found this incredibly cute and humorous, and it made me want to get even closer to them, which, of course, was impossible.

When we were finished feeding the otters, we were instructed to hold up our hands and say “all done” to let Pasa and Catori know the food was gone. They looked at us as we said this, but still came over to inspect each of our empty containers to make sure we weren’t lying to them. While the keeper again ordered the otters to stay back, we retreated into the concrete building adjacent to the exhibit. The keepers dutifully answered a few of our questions, and we were then back out into the main zoo area. From start to finish, our otter encounter lasted about twenty minutes. After that, we explored a little more of the indoor animal exhibits, and headed back to Pittsburgh, pinching ourselves in awe of our amazing day.

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KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: TIPS FOR VISITING OGLEBAY GOOD ZOO

There are quite a few places in the U.S. and around the world where you can interact with various animals, but I found only a few where it was possible to interact with both otters and red pandas. Oglebay (pronounced “Ogle-bee”) Resort’s Good Zoo offers encounters ~~with both of these charming animals~~ [note: otter encounters are currently unavailable], as well as kangaroo, mongoose lemur, meerkat, reindeer, ringtailed lemur, serval, two-toed sloth, and avian encounters (head here to see current encounter availability).

Oglebay Good Zoo is located in Wheeling, West Virginia, which is one hour from Pittsburgh, two hours from Columbus, and about three hours from Cleveland. Lodging is available at the resort if you wish to stay on-site or loop your visit in with a trip to any of these cities.

Book your encounters well in advance as popular days and times may sell out, and the animals are only allowed to participate in a limited number of encounters per week. Encounters will vary from day to day and will depend on the animals’ moods; the keepers will not force an animal to participate if it doesn’t show interest. We enjoyed our red panda experience the most because it lasted longer, though keep in mind that may not always be the case. With our $25 gift card, we purchased a painting created by the red pandas, specifying what colors we would like them to use; we now are the proud owners of a green painting made by artist Junjie.

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Have you ever experienced an animal encounter? What animal(s) did you meet?

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