The animals listen to Anni Fuchs.

"Manu!

Manu! ”She calls out clearly twice, then the spectacled monkey looks at the carer.

A certain familiarity can be felt.

Lions and the black howler monkeys are also among the protégés of Anni Fuchs and Tambo, who has been sponsored by the FAZ since June, whose father Santiago is one of her favorite animals.

Since he has been a father, he has been protecting mother Lawa and Tambo in a particularly caring manner.

"I like that, he's a great man."

Daniel Meuren

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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With all her affection, Anni Fuchs knows the limits of approaching animals. “They remain dangerous animals, and they have to be like that,” she says. “The animal world also has its downsides and is definitely not the more beautiful world.” Fuchs, who herself and her husband keep a dog, cats and a reptile in their own home in a 400-souls village near Frankfurt, knows that they play an intermediary role occupies between the interests of the zoo visitors and the animals. She is convinced of the important function of zoos for nature and species protection, especially through the transfer of knowledge to zoo visitors.

When Manuel Casares, who returned to his Spanish homeland in June 2018, became zoo director, she convinced him to largely switch off electric fences in the enclosures.

“Some of them only had the function of protecting trees for the visual appearance of the visitors,” says Fuchs.

The fences were largely abolished, but the animals did not destroy the trees.

Such experiences strengthen Fuchs in her work.

In 1979 she started working as an animal keeper at the zoo, and she even took part in TV recordings of Bernhard Grzimek.

She became one of the faces of the zoo over the years.

She still loves her job as she did on the first day, and she has always maintained her respect for animals.

"It's not fear, but there is a certain degree of caution, and knowing not to be reckless helps," she says.

Protection of animals from corona

Caution was also called for in the past 17 months, during which Corona not only changed everyday life outside the zoo, but also changed the way we deal with the animals. “We were all extremely careful here. It was not just a concern for our own health, there was also concern for the health of animals such as monkeys, which are believed to be endangered by severe disease. The zoo was therefore largely spared from Corona.

Having to say goodbye to animals that have grown dear to you is always part of the everyday life of employees.

It was the same with Vanni, the last tiger in the zoo who was recently euthanized because of a tumor, and Anni Fuchs was particularly fond of it.

“When he came to us at the time, it clicked right away.

I absolutely loved him. ”For Ms. Fuchs, however, Vanni's end was a redemption for the animal, shaped by reason.

A video with Anni Fuchs can be found here on faz.net