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Show Big Debate at the Berlin Zoo h " v (if -: 3 With, some 12,600 specimens of 2,200 different species, the West Berlin Zoo, home for the two argumentative beasts in the picture above, is the biggest in Europe and ranks second only to the. zoo in San Diego, Calif. Its Aquarium collection of 9,500 tropical fish, amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates from 1,320 species is the largest in the world. The zoo's Aviary resembles a tropical forest where only the instinct of the free-flying birds keeps them apart from the visitors. Also free of iron bars are the separated open areas where the beasts of prey include lions, tigers, pumas and jaguars as well as the rare Persian and Clouded leopards, of South East Asia that are now threatened with extinction. The Berlin Zoo has successfully bred many' species now fast vanishing from their natural habitat, thus helping to prevent their disappearance. Among them: the first orangutan orang-utan ever raised in captivity; the crested Kagus or flying lemurs from New Caledonia; the three-toed Great Bustards-the Bustards-the first North American White Pelican bred in Europe; and the first Spectacled Bears of the Peruvian Andes to be reared in Germany. The rare Snow Owls in the Zoo's collection collec-tion of birds of prey have raised several young each year ' since 1962. Also bred in Berlin are the scarce owl-faced Hamlyn s monkeys from the Congo and the black-and-white Guereza monkeys. Similarly thriving are the Zoo's East Indian In-dian Gaur oxen and the wild Banteng oxen from Java The Berlin Zoo was founded in 1 R-ii ' |