\n[post_page_title]Going to the zoo[\/post_page_title]
\nA trip to the zoo is a great way to put a smile on your kid\u2019s face. These places allow you to see animals that you probably won\u2019t find roaming around in the wild where you live. Creatures from all over the world are brought to these places for you to see, and all that time spent around humans impacts the way they behave. Take how this bear responded to a waving woman, for example. If you thought wild animals couldn\u2019t learn things from people, then you were wrong.
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\n[post_page_title]Controversy in a cage[\/post_page_title]
\nZoos make for a great family day out, but that hasn\u2019t stopped them from being a source of controversy over the years. A lot of people oppose the way that the animals are locked away in cages hundreds or thousands of miles away from their natural habitat. In their eyes, a zoo is denying them of their freedom, and that\u2019s something that no living creature should ever have taken away. Although this is an incredibly valid argument, there are some things that they don\u2019t take into consideration.
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\n[post_page_title]Taken somewhere safe[\/post_page_title]
\nMany animals that are kept in zoos haven\u2019t simply been plucked from their habitat and forced into a cage. More often than not, these creatures have been taken from rescue shelters where they resided because their habitat was under threat, or they were in danger. By keeping them in a zoo, they\u2019re actually being given a safer home where they have a chance to thrive. Rescue shelters can only take so many animals at a time, and their services are best used on those in dire need of help.
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\n[post_page_title]Raising a family[\/post_page_title]
\nEven if you still feel uncertain about seeing an animal kept behind bars, it\u2019s easy to find out where they\u2019ve come from and why they\u2019re not in the wild. This ought to give you peace of mind, especially if you can see how they\u2019re coping in captivity. Although the creatures might not have the freedom to explore, they do have everything they need around them, including the opportunity to raise a family. The safety of their children is assured in a zoo, whereas it\u2019s not out in the wild.
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\n[post_page_title]A suitable compromise[\/post_page_title]
\nFortunately, not all zoos are the same. If you don\u2019t fancy taking your kids to see all those animals trapped in cages, there are other places you can go. Reminiscent of the African safaris, there are farms around America where these creatures are allowed to roam freely. This might sound intimidating to visit, especially given some of the ferocious animals that live there, but it\u2019s an excellent opportunity to experience these creatures in more of a natural habitat. It\u2019ll save you having to travel around the world to see them.
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\n[post_page_title]One special place[\/post_page_title]
\nOne place, in particular, that\u2019s worth a visit is Olympic Game Farm. It\u2019s located in Sequim, Washington, and stretches across an expanse big enough for a wide variety of animals. From llamas and elk to snakes and lizards, you\u2019ll have a great time with your camera there, especially given how some of the animals behave. As the farm is constantly popular with curious visitors, the animals have adapted to seeing people around all the time. They\u2019ve gotten so used to it that they\u2019ve started interacting in unusual ways.
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\n[post_page_title]Exploring from a distance[\/post_page_title]
\nA massive benefit to Olympic Game Farm is that you can get up close and personal with dozens of interesting animals without fearing for your life. The farm bills itself as a drive-through wildlife exhibit, allowing you to take a vehicle through the park as you encounter the beauty of nature. The only one in a cage here will be you as you stick to the safety of your car. You\u2019ll realize that\u2019s for the best when you\u2019re driving past the lions and they suddenly take an interest in you.
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\n[post_page_title]Meeting the animals[\/post_page_title]
\nOlympic Game Farm is an incredibly popular attraction, and as one woman found out, there\u2019s a good reason for that. She went to the wildlife exhibit one day to see what the fuss was all about, and she wasn\u2019t disappointed. She slowly drove her car through the farm, marveling at the different animals enjoying themselves in their various habitats. They all seemed very content with their lives, but there was one creature that caught her attention more than any other. That was when she opened the window.
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\n[post_page_title]Spotting each other[\/post_page_title]
\nThe animal that caught her eye was a brown bear. Olympic Game Farm is home to two of these creatures most commonly found in Eurasia or North America. Although you wouldn\u2019t want to get on the wrong side of one, the animals are known to be very friendly at the wildlife exhibit, especially as they\u2019ve grown accustomed to the farm\u2019s frequent visitors. When the woman approached one of them in her car, they weren\u2019t put off by her appearance, considering her to be just like every other tourist.
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\n[post_page_title]Waving hello[\/post_page_title]
\nThe bear watched her as she pulled up, and for a moment the two looked at each other. With the window down and the woman\u2019s arm hanging out of the car, she decided to say hello by waving at the animal. It\u2019s something that a lot of people do when they see an animal, but they never really expect much of a response. Waving is a human interaction that is pretty much universally understood, but it\u2019s not something that most animals have ever thought to even try before.
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\n[post_page_title]What are you doing?[\/post_page_title]
\nWith that in mind, it\u2019s probably not a surprise that the bear simply stared at her when she first started waving. It looked like it had no idea what she was doing with her hand, but its attention was caught nonetheless. At the same time that she was waving, the woman decided to film the bear to see if it did anything by way of a reaction. Fortunately for her, she was right to pull her camera out. After several seconds of waving, it came up with one incredible response.
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\n[post_page_title]Returning the gesture[\/post_page_title]
\nWhen the bear realized what the woman was doing, it did it\u2019s best to return the gesture. That\u2019s right, the animal actually sat up and started waving back at the visitor in the car. If the bear had never waved to anyone before, then it certainly got a handle on what to do very quickly. Although its movements were very jerky, there was no doubt that it was responding to the woman with the same gesture that she\u2019d done. It was lucky that she caught the act on her camera.
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\n[post_page_title]Learning from experience[\/post_page_title]
\nWhat this woman had just seen was something that she\u2019d never expected when she left for Olympic Game Farm that day. A waving bear isn\u2019t exactly something that you hear about all the time. We\u2019re pretty sure that this isn\u2019t something that would be considered normal bear behavior. The animals probably don\u2019t go around waving when they spot each other out in the wild. However, after seeing so many people try and interact with it like this over the years, perhaps it finally learned how to repeat the action.
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\n[post_page_title]Picking up behaviors[\/post_page_title]
\nOne reason why the animal might have picked up this behavior so well is if it had been separated from its mother at a young age. All animals look to their parents to learn how to interact with the world around them. If the baby bear didn\u2019t have its mother around to develop habits from, then it might have used humans as a surrogate instead. By watching how they interacted with each other, it could have tried to interpret and respond to their behaviors, thereby learning things like waving.
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\n[post_page_title]An understandable reaction[\/post_page_title]
\nThe woman reacted to the bear\u2019s wave in a way that many of us probably would have done too. Blown away by the animal\u2019s human-like response, she couldn\u2019t help but laugh at the incredible sight. Whoever it was that was driving the car joined in too, equally amazed by what they\u2019d just seen on the other side of the window. It would have been sensational if the bear had learned how to laugh too and joined in with the pair, although that might be asking just a little too much.
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\n[post_page_title]Becoming a sensation[\/post_page_title]
\nThe people in the car weren\u2019t the only ones who found the bear\u2019s friendly wave something worth marveling at. After the short video they\u2019d filmed was uploaded to YouTube, it became a viral hit. Since it was first posted, it\u2019s amassed nearly 20 million views, with 89,000 people giving it their seal of approval. Many people commented on the animal\u2019s politeness, while others tried to interpret what was going through the bear\u2019s mind. They believed that rather than seeing the humans as friends, it viewed them as food.
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\n[post_page_title]Born to be wild[\/post_page_title]
\nTheir interpretation of the bear\u2019s mindset wasn\u2019t entirely unjustified. After all, while we don\u2019t know what the animal was actually thinking at the time, we do have a pretty good understanding of normal bear behavior. While they might look cuddly, these creatures are known for being ferocious. They have the strength and willpower to take down a human easily, and they rarely need a reason to do it. If the woman had encountered the bear in the wild, she might not have been so quick to attract its attention.
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\n[post_page_title]Feeling protective[\/post_page_title]
\nIt\u2019s lucky that the bear was by itself and didn\u2019t have any cubs around. As with most species, bears are incredibly protective of their young and will lash out in an instant if they believe that their cubs are in danger. While we\u2019re sure that the animals at Olympic Game Farm are generally a lot friendlier than the rest of their species, they\u2019d probably still act out if they felt they were being threatened in any way. It\u2019s just the way that they\u2019re wired, and humans are exactly the same.
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\n[post_page_title]Approaching the car[\/post_page_title]
\nGiven that the bear appeared to be very friendly, it\u2019s a surprise that it didn\u2019t try and approach the woman in the car. It may have been kept behind a fence, but an animal of that size could have easily climbed over that barricade. We\u2019re not sure what the woman would have done if her new friend suddenly started walking towards her. Getting that close to a bear isn\u2019t something you\u2019d normally consider doing, but if the animal doesn\u2019t mean you any harm, is there anything to fear?
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\n[post_page_title]Fearless creatures[\/post_page_title]
\nIt\u2019s actually quite common in places like Olympic Game Farm for the animals to approach your car. Some are curious about who you are and what you\u2019re doing, while others want to warn you away. Although a lot of animals are more scared of you than you are of them, there are plenty in these wildlife exhibits that are pretty fearless. There have been numerous incidents in the past of animals going so far as to stick their heads into people\u2019s cars and steal their food. Talk about rude!
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\n[post_page_title]Seeing them for yourself[\/post_page_title]
\nFortunately, this bear wasn\u2019t interested in anybody\u2019s food. All it cared about was returning a gesture to someone kind enough to say hello. If you were to visit Olympic Game Farm now, there\u2019s every chance that you\u2019d get to see the animal for yourself. Whether or not they\u2019d wave to you is another matter entirely, but at least you\u2019d be able to meet the bear who became an online sensation. How often do you get to say that you crossed paths with a celebrity?
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[post_page_title]Going to the zoo[\/post_page_title] A trip to the zoo is a great way to put a smile on your kid\u2019s face. These places allow you to see animals that you probably won\u2019t find roaming around in the wild where you live. Creatures from all over the world are brought to these places for you to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":66858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n