Abdollahi: Dr. Goodall, thank you very much for your time. You have visited the PATA Zoo. What do you feel?

 

Goodall: I don´t think it should call itself a zoo, it's a prison. I have visited many zoos around the world, but this one is one of the worst. None of the animals has litter, they all lie on concrete or on gravel. I was shocked and deeply saddened by my experience. I couldn't sleep for a long time last night, I kept seeing the animals' eyes. It seemed like they were asking: what did we do to be here? What did we do wrong? They haven't done anything wrong. No animal deserves to live like this.

 

Abdollahi: What do these animals feel?

 

Goodall: They have nothing to do, so boredom, depression. I had a feeling that some of the animals were already mentally confused. It's just heartbreaking to see innocent animals in such a state.

 

Abdollahi: So what should you do with this zoo?

 

Goodall: Well I think it should be closed. As far as I know, there was an offer to build some kind of shelter. The owner of the zoo refused. In any case, something has to be done and these animals have to be saved.

 

Abdollahi: How can you teach people that places like this are wrong?

 

Goodall: We have to educate people. Young people are very good at raising their parents. I watched the zoo visitors yesterday and thought I'd like to just talk to them, not accusingly, but just say: How did you like the zoo? How did you like the zoo? To see what they say. Because some of the people looked a little unhappy to me when they saw the animals like this. Others looked interested. Children were almost expressionless. So I couldn't find out if they thought it was good or bad. But we need more programs to educate people that this is actually bad.

 

Abdollahi: Do we need zoos?

 

Goodall: Well, first of all, there are millions of animals in zoos. Second, I know so many people who, because of their first encounters with animals in the zoo, have started to become involved with animals in the wild and nature conservation. Good zoos put a lot of money into conservation. And a really good zoo understands the needs and social structure of the animals, it provides enough space and, above all, alleviates the terrible boredom of captivity by regularly changing offers for the animals.

 

Abdollahi: Thank you for your time!

 

Goodall: You're welcome!