The Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden received the Frim Jakab Memorial Medal

Dr. Endre Sós, our Director General, was recently awarded the Frim Jakab Memorial Medal, established in 1990 by the National Association for the Protection of the Interests of People with Intellectual Disabilities and Their Caregivers (ÉFOÉSZ) to honor the work of the renowned special education teacher, Jakab Frim. The medal is given to individuals who pay special attention to supporting people with intellectual disabilities and their families and work to reduce their social disadvantages. Receiving this medal is an honor and a confirmation that the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden’s tradition of social responsibility is recognized beyond our own institution.

For decades, the Zoo has focused on the special needs of visitors with disabilities. In 2013, we signed a broad agreement with organizations representing people with disabilities, allowing visitors with valid identification and their companions to enjoy significant discounts. The first Disabled Children’s Day was organized jointly with ÉFOÉSZ in 1992, and this year we are preparing for the thirty-third event. Since the 1980s, we have held special zoo-educational programs for visually impaired children, where they can touch the animals and interact with them up close. For more than twenty years, since 2004, we have participated in the “Dreamnight at the Zoo” initiative, which provides chronically ill children and their families with the opportunity to visit the zoo during a special evening program once a year on the first Friday of June.