And thanks to our increasingly urban society, "a petting zoo may be the only place where kids are exposed to animals besides cats and dogs," she says. Jayarao agrees. "It would be a shame to see ...

The zoo is located about an hour south of Fort Collins and open daily (except for Christmas Day) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kids 15 and younger will get in for free for the rest of this month ...