At a zoo enclosure in Gyeonggi Province.

Visitors feed coatis, animals belonging to the raccoon family, through holes drilled in the wall.

The feeding experiences usually involve carrots or hard tack crackers, and since there are no zookeepers around, visitors can feed them an unlimited amount.

This easily leads to nutritional imbalances and obesity.

[Lee Hyung-ju, Head, Aware (Animal Welfare Institute): It is fundamentally impossible to control or manage the total amount of food a single animal consumes throughout the day just by limiting the amount of food sold, because countless visitors buy food with money and feed them...]

Zoo feeding experiences were banned in principle following a revision to relevant laws in 2022.

Only experiences approved through prior planning documents are exceptionally permitted.

However, some zoos received approval on the condition of limiting the amount of food, but are failing to follow their own plans.

When an animal welfare civic group investigated 22 zoos nationwide, all of them were found to be operating experience programs different from their approved plans.

A zoo in Incheon stated that touching animals was prohibited during feeding, yet it was operating a kinkajou-touching experience.

When the zoo was revisited recently, it had even newly opened unapproved feeding experiences for capybaras and sloths.

At a zoo in Daegu, an unapproved seal-touching experience was underway.

[Just pet it gently. It is extremely smooth, isn't it? The texture to the touch is also very nice.]

This is a commercial tactic aimed at attracting even one more visitor, while local governments maintain that on-site crackdowns are not easy.

[Daegu City Official: Even if a civil complaint is filed, it is not easy without evidence. They (the civic group) sent us photos. We checked based on those and...]

[Park Hae-chul, Member of the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee (Democratic Party of Korea): Submitting animal welfare implementation plans only at the time of initial approval and essentially leaving them unmonitored afterwards is, I believe, the fundamental cause of problems like this.]

Just as interacting with animals is valuable, teaching children to care for the health and welfare of animals also appears important.

Investigation of 22 "Experience Zoos" Reveals All Violated Regulations (October 26, 8 News)

Reported by Jang Sun-i | Written by Bae Jun-hwi | Filmed by Kang Dong-chul | Edited by Ahn Yeo-jin | Produced by SBS Digital News