On Friday, January 24th, at 4 p.m., a major event under the slogan “Our Zoo – Our Responsibility” will be taking place in front of the Krefeld town hall with the objective of commemorating the more than 30 animals who fell victims to the tragic fire of the great ape house on New Year’s Night.
During this meeting, the good-willed people will be able to give their words of consolation to the deeply committed Krefeld zoo team, led by Dr. Wolfgang Dreßen, among them, naturally, the zookeepers, affected by the loss of these wonderful animals, whom they have known and looked after for decades. It will also be an opportunity to express the gratitude to the members of the emergency services who helped in dealing with the tragedy. Many thanks will also go to the numerous friends of the Krefeld Zoo from all over the world who have shown their great sympathy and will certainly continue to demonstrate it.
Despite all the deep grief, this solidarity, especially coming from the Krefeld town population, whose outstanding sympathy for their zoo is impressive, gives a lot of encouragement to the authentic animal friends!
Taking into account the imminent threat to humans and wildlife from the man-created sixth global extinction, which is currently taking over our planet just like the climate crisis (more than 1 billion animals lost their lives in the bushfires in Australia and many more their home), this is a positive and hopeful sign that the modern zoological gardens are standing even closer together in the light of this situation. The expertise of our modern zoos in protecting the endangered animal species is becoming increasingly important. Their importance as Embassies for Wild Animals and as a meeting point between humans and animals in an increasingly alienated society is growing today more than ever.
Together with our numerous friends and supporters from politics and administration, science and education, as well as nature and animal protection, we as modern zoos will not let up in our commitment to protect wildlife and nature. We would also like to thank the Mayor of Krefeld, Frank Meyer, for his clear words on the start of the New Year, when he criticized as inappropriate the attacks of uninformed and misguided radical animal rights activists.
We, at Loro Parque and Loro Parque Fundación, would like to express our appreciation of Mr. Meyer’s strong commitment to the reconstruction of the modernized facility for the great apes in Krefeld. Of especial importance are his comments that, “we are talking about animal species that are critically endangered in the wild and that they will only have a future if institutions, like the Krefeld Zoo, continue their valuable work – and that is exactly what we will do”. In addition, one should highlight his plea to look ahead with all sadness in order to “emerge from the catastrophe to become even stronger than before.” As modern zoos, we feel deeply committed to nature and animal protection.
The friends of the Krefeld Zoo can be confident that they count with the support of Loro Parque! Because if there did not exist a zoo, then it would be high time now to invent it!
