Coronavirus: German zoos ask government for $110 million aid

AKIPRESS.COM - German zoos are asking the government for a 100 million-euro ($110 million) aid package to help cover costs as their revenue has fallen away due to the coronavirus crisis, AP reports. Germany has largely shut down public life and introduced a ban over a week ago on gatherings of more than two people in public. The restrictions are expected to remain in place until after Easter. An association representing 56 zoos wrote to Chancellor Angela Merkel, her finance and economy ministers as well as state governors on Tuesday.
The group's chairman, Leipzig zoo director Joerg Junhold, said that "unlike other facilities, we cannot simply shut down our operations - our animals still have to be fed and cared for."
With zoos closed to visitors, he said that "at the moment we are working without revenues but with expenses at a consistently high level." He said that a big zoo currently has a weekly revenue shortfall of about 500,000 euros.
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