In the bustling heart of Budapest’s zoo, Zani is a flamboyant yet kindly young man who has grown up among the animals, treating them as his closest friends and earning the sly reproach of his boss for being too gentle with them. His father was one of the finest animal caretakers, but he died early, and Zani was raised by the creatures he loves—their company his only family. Across town, Eve is an attractive, stubborn orphan girl who dreams of freedom, trapped in a strict orphan school that threatens to bind her to a life of servitude until she’s old enough to escape.
The film opens with a vivid tour through the zoo, where a sick monkey captures the attention of Dr. Grunbaum, and a human conflict unfurls alongside the animals. A woman arrives complaining her skunk fur has vanished, and she hints that thefts like this aren’t the first of their kind. The doctor calls in Zani, who’s amused by a play with lion cubs, and the officers escort him to the examination room where the thread of trouble begins to pull taut. Zani’s bond with the orphaned girls he’s noticed near the zoo deepens the moment they whisper about him; as the doctor suspects, Zani has taken the fur, and the law edges closer to him. Yet the real turning point comes soon enough when Zani finds himself drawn toward the orphan girls once more, and a whistle tune he knows serves as a signal—the girls recognize it and drift toward the lions’ enclosure, using the spectacle as a cover for what’s coming next.
A daring plan unfolds: the girls urge Eve to seize her chance to escape, and when the moment arrives, the girls coordinate a distraction. Eve, slipping out of her uniforms and into ordinary clothes gifted by the conspirators, slips into the bushes with the others providing cover. The escape is both perilous and hopeful, as Eve steps into a new life with nothing but courage and the whispered help of her would-be saviors. In the chaos that follows, Dr. Grunbaum learns of a second theft—this time of a fox fur that one woman had hoped to turn into a muff—sparking a fresh chase and casting Zani back into the spotlight as a suspect.
Meanwhile, a little boy named Paul Vandor Paul Vandor slips away from his governess and disappears toward the zoo, while the orphanage head keeps a wary count, realizing that one child is missing and fearing the worst. The pursuit builds as the gates close and the officers converge, and the film threads together the fates of the runaway Eve, the resourceful Zani, and the anxious Paul as they move through the zoo’s labyrinth of corridors, cages, and stairwells.
In a tense moment of conscience, Zani eventually confesses to assisting in the search for Eve but denies any lingering danger as he leads the officers astray, allowing Eve to slip away and exchange her uniform for civilian clothes. The two reunite in a secluded hideaway—an old bear den with a window to the city—where they share stories, confusion, and a fragile, growing affection. Zani even riskily helps with the zoo’s operations, saving the monkey Maria by bringing her into the rescue, a moment that briefly loosens the grip of the law on him.
As days pass, Eve’s absence continues to ripple through the lives around the zoo: Paul’s worried parents, the head of the orphanage, and the assembled officers who suspect all kinds of mischief. In a daring escape that tests every ounce of courage, Paul helps others by running through danger toward the den, and Zani charges to protect him, his leg badly injured in the confrontation with a cage-bound beast.
The hospital scene marks a turning point: the doctor’s authority is tempered by Zani’s quick thinking and selflessness, which leads to a temporary reconciliation that lets their shared love for animals take precedence over arrest. The action peaks in a cascade of chaos as the zoo’s animals break free during a tense standoff: tiger, lion, and elephant instincts flare, and the uproar draws everyone’s attention to the danger at hand. Yet Zani’s bravery saves Paul from harm, and the grateful father, Mr. Vandor, expresses his appreciation and a pledge to protect Eve from being separated from the only family she’s known.
In a hopeful coda, Mr. Vandor arranges for Eve to be placed under his protection for five years, but the heart of the tale is not control or punishment—it’s love. Eve and Zani choose each other, planning a life beyond confinement, and the final image shows them riding away together on a horse, a shared sense of home brightening their faces as they declare they are indeed "home" at last.
