Easter Monday was spent with my parents at the Zoo in Münster, walking in the sunshine and enjoying getting away from the daily routine of work and chores.

Now, I actually do like going to the zoo. All of the parks in this area have been re-build in the last couple of years, meaning that each species has now a larger area to roam and live in. And those areas are all grouped together to make it look as if the visitor is actually walking through the wilderniss of Africa or the woods of Alaska.

Back in the day, when I was still a toddler, zoos had animals locked into tiny cages barely larger than my room. And even then, I always thought the animals looked really sad, being so far away from their actual home.

Especially, I noticed that in the anthropoids – and that is what still makes me so sad today. Monkeys are probably my favourite animals to visit in the zoo. It fascinates me how similar we are and how they always, always seem to be able to read exactly what you think. They’re so clever and so, so similar to us and yet, we dare to put them into cages/enclosures.

Then again, zoos are an excellent way to make people aware of endangered species, like the Malayan Sun Bear or the Asian Golden Cat. Both are beautiful animals but sadly, both kinds have almost been entirely killed off in the wilderness by human hands. Terrible, no?

In any case, I don’t want to start a major discussion about the pros and cons of zoos. This is just to say that yes, while I enjoy going there, I am perfectly aware that the animals on show do suffer.

Giraffes are one of my favourite kind of animal to visit at the zoo!

Taking high-heeled brogues to the zoo!

Aren’t they just darling?

Favourite shot of the day!