New sponsored animal for Geroldswil: community helps panda at Zurich Zoo
Geroldswil
After wolves and wallabies: the community supports a small panda at Zurich Zoo
The municipality of Geroldswil has entered into a sponsorship with Zurich Zoo for the third time. In addition, it continues to offer the public discounted admission to the zoo.
The animal support in Geroldswil continues. The municipality has announced that it has a one-year sponsorship for a small panda at Zurich Zoo. She donated a feed ration worth CHF 1,000 to the animal, which is native to the Himalayas and south-west China. “From January 10, 2022, animal sponsorship at Zurich Zoo changed from a Bennett wallaby to a small panda,” says the community website. However, the animal from the kangaroo family, which is primarily native to Australia in the wild, was not the first whose feeding costs were covered by the municipality.
It all started in 2020 with a Mongolian wolf, the first Geroldswil sponsored animal from Zurich Zoo. In this way, the municipal council intends to increase the attractiveness of the municipality. The community enthusiastically christened the wolf Geri, a fitting name for Geroldswil. However, the zoo lacks the naming on the initiative of the community and so the wolf was nameless again.
No one could resist the panda’s charm
Despite these beginning stumbling blocks, the community is still holding on to their engagement party to this day. “Above all, we wanted to make our little citizens happy with the new godparent,” says municipal clerk Gregor Jurt. The administration team could not resist the charm of the cute little panda when making the selection. An employee even visited the godmother at the zoo and took the pictures that have now been published on the community website.
At the same time, the municipal council purchased four annual tickets for Zurich Zoo for CHF 1,300. These are available to residents of Geroldswil and administrative staff. The population can obtain four tickets for a rent of 5 francs per day. For comparison: the normal admission price for adults at the zoo ticket office is 29 francs, for children from six to 15 years 15 francs. The discounted tickets can be hired from Monday to Friday at the Presidential counter. Reservations are made on the municipal website under the Leisure and Culture section.
Unemployed person can finally go to the zoo with children
The offer is well received. “People are happy. For example, recently an unemployed person borrowed the tickets and visited the zoo with her children. Otherwise she would not have been able to afford it, »says community clerk Jurt. Since the lifting of almost all corona measures, there has also been a slight increase. “We started the offer in early 2020, just before the outbreak of the pandemic. The zoo was temporarily closed, people were afraid to go outside. We hope that the tickets will now be used even better,” says Jurt.
So far, zoo tickets have been borrowed two to three times a week on average. From the beginning of spring, thanks to the warmer temperatures, it is also possible that the tickets are rented out for the whole week.