{"id":157958,"date":"2026-04-05T19:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/157958\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T19:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:24:09","slug":"toddler-injured-after-sticking-hand-into-wolf-enclosure-inside-pennsylvania-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/157958\/","title":{"rendered":"Toddler injured after sticking hand into wolf enclosure inside Pennsylvania zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

A toddler was injured <\/a>after sticking their hand through the fence of a wolf enclosure at ZooAmerica, part of Hersheypark<\/a> in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, an unsupervised 18-month-old child climbed under an exterior fence surrounding the wolf habitat before sticking their hand through the primary metal fence closing off the enclosure.<\/p>\n

A wolf inside the enclosure made contact with the child in a manner that is \u201cconsistent with natural animal behavior, and was not a sign of aggression,\u201d a spokesperson for Hershey Entertainment and Resorts told Fox 43. <\/a><\/p>\n

The child sustained minor injuries from the incident, the spokesperson added, without specifying the type of injuries.<\/p>\n

In a statement, a spokesperson for Hershey Entertainment and Resorts said the safety of its guests and animals are its top priority.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A toddler was injured Saturday after sticking their hand into the wolf enclosure at ZooAmerica, part of Hersheypark in Pennsylvania (Google Maps)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of an incident involving a young child at ZooAmerica the morning of Saturday, April 4, and are relieved that the child\u2019s injuries were minor,\u201d the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on our review, an unsupervised 18-month old child was able to crawl under an exterior perimeter fence, travel to the primary metal enclosure surrounding the wolf habitat, and put his hand through that fence,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA wolf approached and made contact with the child\u2019s hand,\u201d according to Hershey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis type of response is consistent with natural animal behavior, and was not a sign of aggression,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\n

The child was never inside the wolf\u2019s enclosure, the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n

According to the zoo, there are three wolves in its pack: Twister, a male wolf born on April 30, 2015, and females Hazel and Freya, who arrived from Bear Country USA in Rapid City, South Dakota and born April 4, 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe safety of our guests and the well-being of our animals are always our highest priorities,\u201d according to Hershey. \u201cOur habitats are designed with multiple layers of protection, and clear signage and barriers are in place to help ensure safe viewing. Guests are expected to remain within designated areas and closely supervise children at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ZooAmerica<\/p>\n

ZooAmerica is part of Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and is home to animals found in North America (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n

The Independent has contacted Hershey Entertainment and Resorts for more information.<\/p>\n

ZooAmerica is an 11-acre zoo for animals found in North America that is part of the Hersheypark amusement park in Hershey, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums and is committed to the conservation of North American wildlife and habitats, according to its website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A toddler was injured after sticking their hand through the fence of a wolf enclosure at ZooAmerica, part…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1508,71501,1509,28,30,29,7089,71502,71500,1514],"class_list":{"0":"post-157958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-hershey","9":"tag-hershey-entertainment-and-resorts","10":"tag-hersheypark","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","13":"tag-pennsylvania-news","14":"tag-spokesperson","15":"tag-wolf-enclosure","16":"tag-wolf-habitat","17":"tag-zooamerica"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}