For those who think it's not wise to touch a stingray, think again when visiting the Fort Worth Zoo.
You can now touch both cownose and southern stingrays as well as small sharks in the Stingray Cove exhibit, which opened to the public Thursday morning.
"It's totally safe," said zoo spokesperson Avery Elander. "Our keepers file the stingrays' barbs just like you would file your fingernails," so they aren't sharp enough to hurt anyone.
Plus, "stingrays don't have teeth," she added, "so when they take the food from you what you feel is more like suction."
As for the sharks -- bonnethead sharks, brown-banded bamboo sharks and white-spotted bamboo sharks -- they are small, docile species and are bottom feeders so "they won't even try to take the food out of your hand," said Elander.
To mimic their diet in the wild, visitors to Stingray Cove can feed the stingrays shrimp, squid and occasionally krill. Heads-up for those who have severe shellfish allergies.
The cove is open to the public during regular zoo hours. Admission is $5 ($4 for zoo members) which covers all day entry, allowing guests to come and go throughout the day.
