I don't understand the solution

In the previous lesson: https://codegym.cc/quests/lectures/questcollections.level05.lecture03 They use the following block of example code:

class Zoo<T>
{
 ArrayList<T> pets = new ArrayList<T>();

 public T createAnimal()
 {
  T animal = new T();
  pets.add(animal)
  return animal;
 }
}

In the above example, the method createAnimal returns a T object, which is a generic. Why, then, is the method declaration for this task not:

public static T someStaticMethod(T genericObject)
    {
        System.out.println(genericObject);
        return genericObject;
    }

This won't even compile, and checking the solution I have to use <T> T instead of just T. I am trying to understand why the structure in the createAnimal method is different from the structure in this task. Why isn't the createAnimal method public <T> T createAnimal() ?