Six department heads and Heinma, who has led the zoo for the past three years, have become deeply divided over the institution's future animal collection, weekly Eesti Ekspress writes.

This summer, department heads presented the director with a draft collection plan outlining which species should be bred, phased out, acquired, or transferred to other zoos.

A welfare specialist hired last year marked numerous species in red, concluding that their current enclosures do not provide adequate living conditions. Heinma reportedly agrees with that assessment in some cases, arguing, for example, that elephants should no longer be kept in Tallinn. While elephants can spend time outdoors during warm weather, they must retreat to a relatively small elephant house when temperatures drop.

According to the department heads, the director views animal welfare in overly absolute terms. Former zoo director Mati Kaal compared the issue to people being capable of living happily both in a castle and in a one-room apartment in Mustamäe.

An even sharper disagreement concerns what should happen to animals whose conditions have been deemed inadequate. The central question is whether they should continue living in their current enclosures until old age or whether those enclosures should be emptied as soon as possible.

Last Tuesday, the zoo's six department heads reportedly concluded that further discussions with the director would be unproductive and instead decided to appeal to Tallinn city leaders.

Tallinn Deputy Mayor Kristjan Järvan said he is not yet prepared to take a position on the dispute.

Article in Eesti Ekspress.