말라가는 사자 우두커니…발길 끊긴 국내 최대 실내 동물원<br /><br />When we say we are all in this pandemic together, we mean ALL.<br />Zoo animals are also suffering during the COVID-19 outbreak as zoos struggle to feed them due to financial difficulties following a months-long shutdown.<br />The biggest indoor zoo in South Korea, located in Daegu, reopened two weeks ago, but is still having a tough time.<br />Lee Kyung-eun files this report from the city, once the epicenter of South Korea's COVID-19 outbreak.<br />COVID-19 has also taken its toll on animals here at South Korea's biggest indoor zoo.<br />After seeing its revenues stagnate during the two-month shutdown due to the outbreak, the zoo in Daegu had to cut animals' food portions,...by nearly half.<br />And that impact,… can be seen just by looking at these white lions, whose bones are still visible through their skin.<br />"Usually we provide 14 chickens per lion, but during the shut-down, only 7 were given. Also, we used to feed them two times a day, but that changed to once a day."<br />The number of zookeepers had also been reduced,...from 9 to just 3 people.<br />And the situation had become too much to be dealt with internally.<br />"Some of the executives used their own money to keep the business going. But that certainly isn't enough to solve the problem."<br />Just when the zoo was about to reach breaking point described by a zoo official as a matter of "life and death for both workers and animals",... food donations came in, and the government restrictions were relaxed.<br />The zoo finally reopened two weeks ago, but things are still eerily empty.<br />Once visited by nearly 15-hundred people a day,…the zoo now receives less than 50 daily visitors,... and the atmosphere is less lively due to new operational measures.<br />"Some popular activities like touching or feeding the animals have been suspended, and parades have also been cancelled."<br />The surrounding businesses inside the mall have also suffered.<br />The food court, which was also shut down for two months, is struggling with an extreme financial crisis.<br />"It's impossible to pay the workers. The government has provided roughly 8-hundred dollars for each worker, but that's not even close to enough."<br />These businesses say that they are hit harder by the outbreak because they are indoors and the pain is likely to continue.<br />Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News, Daegu.<br />
