METRO BEIJING / METRO BEIJING
Does the zoo need an amusement park?
Published: Sep 06, 2011 09:00 AM
Beijing Zoo plans to build an 18,000 square meter amusement park in a green space close to the elephant enclosure. Do people think this crosses the line? Do they think it will be good for the animals? We sent Fu Siming to find out.

Josef, student, Austria
The government or the zoo should clearly tell the difference between a playground for relaxing and an amusement park for the children, which will bring a totally different effect on animals in the zoo. A playground is often used for walking or relaxing while an amusement park will be a more noisy and crowded place for people to have fun.
It's a typical Chinese way of doing things. It will lead to a mess and … big crowds. I really feel sorry for the animals. There're many protests in foreign countries and people now pay much more attention to animal protection; however, I'm afraid protests in China will make the situation worse here.

Martin, student, Germany
Only talking about the amusement park, it's good to build it for Chinese people. However, as mentioned, the park will be built in the zoo, I think firstly Chinese people should do good things to improve the zoo and take good care of the animals. People should not only pay great attention to the pandas. The cages for other animals are small and their living environment is bad. I'd prefer to call it a hell rather than a zoo because if I were there, I'd like to fly away to any place, even Africa. "Animal torture" can be used to describe the situation in Beijing zoo. 
If animals are living in a bad situation, they won't be healthy and consequently it's bad for children who visit the zoo.
I really feel sorry for the poor animals in Beijing zoo. After all, people should realize that one thing should go first – a zoo should be a paradise for animals. I don't like this construction project.

John, finance, US
I don't love this project. However, except for the animals, the project could bring profits and economic interests to Chinese people. For example, it will help release the severe situation of unemployment and bring more fun to people. After all, people will have more things to do.
It's a typical Chinese project. In my country, an amusement park won't be be combined with a zoo. It's good for the economy and GDP, but not for the animals.

Jan, embassy employee, the Netherlands
It's weird to build an amusement park in a zoo. The zoo is already a place for entertainment because children will have a lot of fun in the monkey area or the panda area, so there's no need to build another amusement project in the zoo. If people do need more different amusements, they could find other places to carry out the construction. 
The current situation in Beijing zoo is awful. It's a hell for animals and the project will make things worse. I don't think it will be a useful way to control noise, by keeping amusement machines only meters away from animals. Isn't it a joke?!

Zoos should not be built in big cities like Beijing.