Getting close with the animals at the Farmyard at the Maryland Zoo

BALTIMORE -- The Maryland Zoo is one of the best ways for Baltimoreans and other Marylanders to see some of the world's greatest animals in person.

But, one part of the zoo lets you really get right next to some animals. 

The Farmyard is not only a fun experience for you, but it's also critical for some animals' care at the zoo.

A goat, a sheep, even a kunekune pig: this is just a small sample of the animals you're able to see and touch in the zoo's Farmyard.

Hassan Bayyan, the area manager for this part of the zoo, said it's the part that really encapsulates the zoo's mission of establishing a real, rooted connection between people and animals.

It did for him when he was younger.

"Being a kid from the city, it was the first interaction that I've ever had with an animal. I remember being young, coming to the zoo, and not even knowing the difference between a goat and a sheep," Bayyan said. "The Farmyard gives you a really unique opportunity where you are guaranteed that interaction with a zookeeper, where you can ask any of those questions that you have."

The human-animal interaction is helpful to the Farmyard's animals. 

Firstly, the interactions keep the animals social. Also, while the Farmyard isn't like most other exhibits, its design still encourages them to do what they normally would do.

For example, in the Goat Corral, you'll see wooden imitations of mountains and hillsides that they'd climb.

The kunekune pigs, like Wilbur, meanwhile learn how to bowl with their noses. Their noses are something they depend on in the wild.

"It's the same way he would if he was a feral, or wild pig, out in the wild, digging around [with his nose] and rooting different grubs and worms and things like that," Bayyan said.

This is all part of the zoo's enrichment strategy, keeping the animals' mental wellbeing in tip-top shape.

"One thing we always wanna strive for here at the zoo is to make sure that we're not just working to make sure that they're physically healthy," Bayyan said. "We also wanna make sure that we're focusing on their mental health. Making sure that mentally they're healthy as well."