That the zoo should be a place where the animals are happy and feel at home is the primary concern of its creators.
Last year pupils from several high schools were invited to paint the benches and walls of the zoo, and their colourful handiwork is now a reminder of this enjoyable cooperation with local young people. Mothers and fathers seize young children attempting to climb into the pools of Japanese koi fish, and head for the playground. Everyone who visits the zoo leaves not only with happy memories but a new awareness that the world belongs to all of us, animals and plants as well as human beings, and that if we do not protect our natural environment, our children will be the poorer.

Text: Firat Ülgür
Photos: Yelda Baler