Freiburg (dpa / lsw) – The city of Freiburg will allow animals from its zoo Mundenhof to participate in video conferences in the future. The offer is intended as a change and encouragement in Corona times, said Mayor Martin Horn (independent) on Thursday. For a donation, companies and private individuals can book a live ticket, for example with a donkey, goat, llama, water buffalo or woolly pig. An animal keeper then switched on from the enclosure via smartphone and made the animal a participant in the video conference.
So far there has been no such thing in the southwest, said Horn. It is suitable, for example, for children’s birthdays, company meetings or love greetings. The animal can also be added as a surprise guest via video. Whether the camels in the zoo are camera-compatible is still being checked. Horn himself started on Thursday. For a video meeting of the local council, he had a woolen pig switched on from the Mundenhof.
“With animal support for video conferencing, we want to cheer people up, promote our zoo and make it profitable,” he said. The Freiburg zoo, like all zoos in Germany, is closed due to the corona crisis and is struggling with lost revenue. If you want a conference with animals, you have to donate at least 100 euros. The money goes to the zoo.
“The live button shows the animals the way they are – with all their imponderables and surprises,” said the mayor. The animals would not be trained or not properly treated for the videos. If desired, the zookeepers could also provide information about the animal and zoo in the videos.
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