Hellabrunn Zoo appeals to visitors: Please follow zoo rules and do not feed the animals!

The summer half-term holidays have finally arrived! Families looking for a fun-filled day out in the Munich sunshine can enjoy plenty of wild encounters at Hellabrunn Zoo. The staff look forward to welcoming guests, children and adults, to the beautiful animal park on the banks of the Isar river, but also have an important message: Please follow the zoo rules! Visitors violating the rules have been a problem for the zoo, especially as they have been established to ensure the welfare of the animal residents. Rules often violated include: do not attempt to attract the animals' attention by shouting, do not cross any barriers or leave the designated visitor paths and do not feed the animals! The residents at Hellabrunn Zoo have strictly controlled diets. Prohibited feeding can therefore cause serious illness or even death.

A visit to the zoo is a great way to embrace the glorious weather we are now experiencing in early June: the sun is shining, the sky is blue and there are many amazing species for visitors to discover. However, from time to time, this beautiful setting is disturbed by visitors who do not follow the zoo rules. Some of the most common violations include the prohibited feeding of the animals, yelling or making noises to attract the animals' attention, littering and crossing barriers or leaving the designated visitor paths.

All of this is strictly forbidden. However, in order to ensure the welfare of our animals the zoo has to make visitors aware once again of the need to comply with the zoo rules. For those planning a visit to the zoo, the list of rules on how to behave on a visit to Hellabrunn can be found on the zoo's website: https://www.hellabrunn.de/en/zoo-rules. There are also numerous signs dotted around the zoo to remind visitors of the rules during their tour.

Prohibited feeding: Why ignoring the rules can cause great damage

This should actually be obvious, after all nobody wants strangers to feed their own pets. Despite this, there continues to be visitors who ignore the "do not feed the animals" rule or cross enclosure barriers, especially during the busiest months of the year.

For Zoo director Rasem Baban, this is an ongoing issue at the zoo: "We are always happy to have many visitors. As a zoo, we offer families, couples and individuals a beautiful and exciting day at Hellabrunn. Unfortunately, there are always a few guests who ignore the rules who then have to be spoken to by our staff or conservation ambassadors. The welfare of the animals is always the highest priority for the zoo. We therefore have to point out improper behaviour when the need arises, even if we don't like to disturb our guests during their zoo experience. All of our animals have an individual feeding plan that is tailored to the current state of health, age and physical constitution. Feeding by strangers can therefore have serious health consequences. In cases of unauthorised feeding, our zoo employees are entitled to speak to the person in question and, if necessary, to enforce the house rules."

Violations such as breaching barriers and careless littering also affect the free-living native species on the zoo grounds. Hellabrunn is part of an EU designated flora and fauna habitat, the Isar Meadows, and is therefore specially protected for the purpose of conserving local biodiversity. The borders of many enclosures are planted with greenery in order to provide suitable habitats for small native animals such as insects and amphibians of all kinds. Leaving the designated visitors paths or polluting the zoological gardens with discarded waste threatens these habitats. In addition, yelling or making noises to attract the animals' attention can make the residents in the enclosures nervous or endanger their health. Baban adds: "We sadly observe people loudly mimicking animals like the wolves and lions in the zoo every day. This is not only disturbing for many other visitors, but also completely ineffective as the animals do not react to it. Thankfully the majority of our visitors follow our zoo rules. As is so often the case, it is the behaviour of only a small number of guests that require us to make this appeal. We want to ensure that everyone can enjoy their visit and simply ask for mutual consideration - for other visitors and of course for our animals."