120 euros per child – excitement about an expensive night in the Innsbruck Alpine Zoo

“UNFASSBAR” begins a Facebook post from well-known Innsbruck comedian Markus Koschuh that caused a stir. “The Innsbruck Alpine Zoo, which is fairly well funded by the government, offers a real bargain for all kids ages 8-12,” he continues — and you can see right away that the “bargain” was meant to be sarcastic.

The offer is called “An Animal Night in the Alpine Zoo”, where the children first prepare a “bedtime treat” for the animals, then watch the animals, barbecue together, play, sleep on the sleeping bag they brought on the floor for the aquarium, then prepare breakfast (for the animals) and finally get a morning snack. Nice, but the cost makes many mouths open: 120 euros.

Promotion of the Alpine Zoo Topic in the City Council
The cost hurts. Not only because many today already have almost no money and want to leave their children a night in the Alpenzoo, but also because the Alpenzoo is subsidized by the city, explains Koschuh: “According to the open budget, the Alpenzoo has received a total of 580,775 euros in subsidies or financing in 2021 under the heading ‘Education’.”

In the June municipal meeting, 141,000 euros in subsidies were approved. According to GR Gerald Depaoli, the city’s control office advised the Alpenzoo on a number of areas for improvement, but they were not fully implemented. For this reason, Just Innsbruck, List Fritz, ALI, NEOS and SPÖ could not agree to the grant application. st. Elli Mayr (SPÖ) notes under Koschuh’s post that the control agency has found it to be “overwhelmed”. She also thinks the price for families is “far too high”. The “Tierische Nacht” is already over for this year, it remains to be seen whether the prizes will cause excitement again next year.