Vietnamese Elephant Adds to German Zoo's Charm

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Director of the Cottbus Zoo, Dr. Jens Kämmerling, last weekend invited the Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Vu ​​Quang Minh to visit the zoo and an elephant named "Don Chung" - a symbolic gift of Vietnam-Germany friendship, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the zoo in Brandenburg state.

In his speech welcoming the special occasion of the zoo, Cottbus Mayor Tobias Schick thanked the contributions of the people, especially the Association of Friends of the Cottbus Zoo, with 550 members, including Vietnamese people, who have donated up to EUR 1.8 million (USD 2 million) to support the building of the Cottbus Zoo over the past few years.

Director of the Cottbus Zoo, Dr. Jens Kämmerling warmly welcomed and received the Vietnamese ambassador and friends for their enthusiastic support. In addition to sponsoring the two elephants, Don Chung and Sundali, the Vietnamese animal lovers community also continuously sent fresh fruits and vegetables to the elephants and other animals.

Ambassador Vu Quang Minh (second from right) and his wife (in red dress) visit Cottbus Zoo and Don Chung elephant. Photo: VNA

Dr. Kämmerling thanked the ambassador, the ambassador's spouse, Nguyen Minh Hanh, along with a group of sponsors and animal lovers from Leipzig city and a reporter from the Vietnam News Agency for sponsoring the 4 beautiful peacocks of Cottbus Zoo for one year.

On this occasion, Ambassador Vu Quang Minh targeted the city authorities and Cottbus Zoo for receiving Vietnamese elephant Don Chung from Leipzig Zoo to his new home in Cottbus since April last year, saying that this is one of the highlights that attracts people in Cottbus and some neighboring countries to visit.

Female elephant Don Chung was born in 1982 in Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City presented him to Leipzig Zoo in 1984 along with an elephant named Trinh in 1985 and elephant Hoa in 1987.

In 2002, 66 years since 1936, the elephant herd at Leipzig Zoo welcomed a new member for the first time, Nam, whose father and mother were both Vietnamese elephants. 20 years later, from 2022, Elephant Nam was mated with elephant mothers from Asia, giving birth to 4 baby elephants. Of which, baby elephant Bao Ngoc, born on December 20, 2022, was named by Ambassador Vu Quang Minh and his spouse, and agreed to becom the guardian of elephant Bao Ngoc.

Ambassador Vu Quang Minh expressed his joy that the zoo in particular and Cottbus city in general have extensive international cooperation with many countries. Among those who love animals and zoos, there are many Vietnamese citizens and people of Vietnamese origin who now consider Cottbus as their second homeland.

Director of the Kämmerling Zoo presents the Leipzig Animal Lovers Group with a one-year sponsorship certificate for the 4 peacocks of Cottbus Zoo. Photo: VNA

Cottbus is also a city with a large Vietnamese population. On this occasion, Ambassador Vu Quang Minh would like to express his sincere thanks to the mayor, the director of the Zoo and all the people living in Cottbus and Germany for welcoming and supporting the Vietnamese people who have chosen this place as their second home over the past decades.

In addition to the gifts to Cottbus Zoo, through the ambassador, on this occasion, Nguyen Thu Thuy, a representative of the sponsors and animal lovers of Leipzig city, donated EUR 1,000 (USD 1,115) to Hanoi Zoo and EUR 1,000 to support flood victims in the northern provinces of Vietnam.

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