Animals from the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange visited with children at the Morristown Medical Center Friday.

The children were able to meet a variety of animals, including a sloth, a penguin, a hedgehog and an armadillo.

It was all part of the announcement that the zoo is partnering with the San Diego Zoo to offer a television channel for patients to experience the zoo while staying at the hospital. The channel will be offered 24 hours a day, seven days a week in all patient rooms.

“Part of a human-animal bond is it decreases your stress. It can decrease…blood pressure and also makes you smile and decreased your anxiety,” says hospital president Trish O’Keefe

This is the first medical center to offer the programming in New Jersey.