FOR
1. The learning effect, which is definitely more effective with live cheetahs, gorillas and penguins than school television or “What is what” books.
2. zoologists say: species protection. Because humans destroyed their natural habitats, some animals only survived by being locked up.
3 Siberian winter weather, November rain – the tropical house feels like a walk in the rainforest all year round.
4 . you know the iguanas from Lumpini Park in Bangkok, the giraffes from the Namibian savannah, and the seals howl like at Pier 39 in San Francisco – the zoo ticket is also an instant pill against wanderlust.
5. anyone who is not impressed by the animalistic grace of such a big cat must be a categorical anti-aesthete.
AGAINST
1. we remember Knut, don’t we? Exactly, the polar bear-turned-behavioral disorder.
2. nurture and release into the wild? This rarely works because the animals forget how to hunt in the comfortable enclosure.
3. whether other living beings should actually be used to satisfy Homo sapiens’ desire for sensation is a legitimate question.
4. ethicists say: species protection my ass, cage means prison, and the right to freedom belongs to every living being.
5 . up to 50 kilograms fall out of the back of an adult elephant every day. This does not necessarily make a visit to the pachyderms a nasal wellness cure.
