Zoo Kills Young Giraffe, Invites Children to Watch It Be Chopped Up, Fed to Lion

[Capetan Mihali]

Did they discover the cause of death?

Foul play has been ruled out confirmed.

He was shot in the back of the head!

My 2014 movie pitch: Double Indemnity remake, only this time set in Copenhagen instead of L.A. and giraffes instead of people and a rifle instead of a train and genetic diversity instead of lust/greed.

[Eddie Teach]

Will Barbara Stanwyck's ankles still have a prominent role?

[Neil]

Did they discover the cause of death?

Foul play has been ruled out confirmed.

He was shot in the back of the head!

But in a manner that was both lawful and consistent with the zoo's practices.  Thus, not foul play.

[CountDeMoney]

"Zoos" rhymes with "Jews", you know.  I'mma jus' sayin'.

Thousands of zoo animals killed in Europe yearly

STOCKHOLM (AP) - People around the world were stunned when Copenhagen Zoo killed a healthy 2-year-old giraffe named Marius, butchered its carcass in front of a crowd that included children and then fed it to lions.

But Marius' fate isn't unique - thousands of animals are euthanized in European zoos each year for a variety of reasons by zoo managers who say their job is to preserve species, not individual animals. In the U.S., zoos try to avoid killing animals by using contraceptives to make sure they don't have more offspring than they can house, but that method has also been criticized for disrupting animals' natural behavior.

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HOW OFTEN ARE LARGE MAMMALS KILLED IN ZOOS?

U.S. and European zoological groups refuse to release figures for the total number of animals killed. But David Williams Mitchell, spokesman of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, or EAZA, estimates an average zoo in its 347-member organization annually kills about five large mammals, which adds up to 1,735. The number doesn't include zoos and animal parks that don't belong to the association.

Animal rights groups suggest numbers are much higher. The Associated Press contacted 10 zoos in Europe - two refused to comment, four said they never kill any animals unless severely ill and four said they kill between one and 30 animals every year. Two zoos in the U.S. said they only ever kill animals for "quality of life reasons."

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WHY ARE ANIMALS KILLED?

Zoos euthanize animals because of poor health, old age, lack of space or conservation management reasons. EAZA policy for zoos in Europe suggests euthanasia may be used as a last resort to achieve a balanced population within breeding programs - Marius was killed to prevent inbreeding. But Williams Mitchell insists only "a fraction of 1 percent" of the killings are for such reasons.

The idea is to maintain a group of genetically healthy animals in zoos that can be used to reintroduce the species into the wild.

There's a philosophical divide between U.S. and European zoos over best practices. The U.S. Association of Zoos and Aquariums said incidents such as the giraffe killing "do not happen at AZA-accredited zoos."

Mike McClure, general curator at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, says his zoo's policies theoretically allow for killing animals for breeding purposes or lack of housing but it's not something his zoo has done. Generally, he says, animals are only killed due to old age or ill health.

In Asia, the parent company for the Singapore Zoo said in a statement that "euthanasia of animals is necessary to maintain the health and welfare of the herd, as overcrowding could lead to injuries, stress and disease outbreak. "

"All animals in zoos die at some point and maybe zoos forgot to tell people," said Jens Sigsgaard, director at the Aalborg Zoo in Denmark, which, like the Copenhagen Zoo, performs open dissections of animals for educational purposes.

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WHAT KINDS OF ANIMALS ARE KILLED?

Both endangered species and other animals are killed at zoos.

EAZA says five giraffes have been killed in European zoos since 2005. In addition to Marius, Copenhagen Zoo says it kills 20-30 antelopes, llamas, goats and other animals yearly.

The Jyllands Park Zoo in Denmark said it may have to kill another giraffe soon for similar reasons as in Marius' case. But a spokesman for Jack Hanna, emeritus director of the Columbus Zoo, said Friday that Hanna has raised more than $100,000 in pledges to save that giraffe.

Aalborg Zoo in Denmark kills up to 15 animals a year, including red river hogs, antelopes and capybaras, while Skansen Zoo in Stockholm says it euthanized one bear and one Eurasian lynx last year and Helsinki Zoo killed one Alpine ibex.

Some zoos also raise pigs, goats and cattle to feed their carnivores.

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WHAT DO ZOOS DO TO AVOID KILLING ANIMALS?

When animals reproduce, most zoos first try to find another one in their network they can send the offspring to. A German zoo this week said it would send a monkey to the Czech Republic because he's produced so many offspring that he would soon start having children with his own relatives.

Zoos generally avoid selling the animals on the open market, fearing they will end up in poor conditions. Some European zoos and most zoos in the U.S. choose to use contraceptives or sterilization or separate males and females to avoid breeding more animals than they can house.

Sharon Dewar, spokeswoman for the U.S. animal Population Management Center, says animals are recommended to "breed only when sustainable housing for any offspring can be assured."

That approach is dismissed as "totally wrong" by Bengt Holst at the Copenhagen Zoo, who says breeding is important for an animal's well-being.

EAZA's Williams Mitchell says there is an ongoing discussion and expects Marius' case to intensify the debate.

Cheryl Asa, director of the AZA Wildlife Contraception Center, says just because contraceptives are used it doesn't mean an animal will never breed. She also says "most of us are very happy to have our pet dogs and cats spayed and neutered."

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WHAT DO CRITICS SAY?

Animal rights groups say Marius' case highlights what they believe is the overall problem with zoos. The Captive Animals' Protection Society says its studies show at least 7,500 animals and perhaps many times more are considered "surplus" at European zoos at any one time. Its director Liz Tyson says the only solution to the problem is not to visit zoos.

Will Travers, president of the Born Free Foundation, questioned whether the zoos' breeding programs contribute that much to conservation. He says research by his foundation has shown the majority of species kept in zoos aren't threatened with extinction in the wild and called for an immediate review of EAZA's euthanasia policies.

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Associated Press reporters Brett Zongker in Washington, David Rising in Berlin, Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, Matti Huuhtanen in Helsinki, Elaine Ganley in Paris, Satish Cheney in Singapore, Jorge Sainz in Madrid and Barry Hatton in Lisbon contributed to this report.
© 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

[Valmy]

Animal rights groups say Marius' case highlights what they believe is the overall problem with zoos. The Captive Animals' Protection Society says its studies show at least 7,500 animals and perhaps many times more are considered "surplus" at European zoos at any one time. Its director Liz Tyson says the only solution to the problem is not to visit zoos.

That is the only solution?  There is no other possible way to manage this?  Are Zoos politically independent in Europe or something?

[Neil]

Indeed.  The best possible solution is for all the animals to be used for traditional Chinese medicine.

[11B4V]

Eh, animal rights wacko are short sighted and generally stupid.

In the mid '90 moonlighted at Northwest trek here in Washington. The park had an explosion of white tail/black tail cross breed. State wouldnt let the park turn the animals loose, like what the wackos wanted. It would upset the ecosystem or some shit. Nor would the state pay to euthanize them or have federal animal damage control come in. So the park was left in a catch 22. That's where I came in. Myself and the park curator went around after the park closed and thinned the herd so to speak for several months. The State or the Feds didnt have a problem with it, but the wackos went ape shit. Hence I was bestow with a most endearing nickname, "Wildlife Assassin". Any deer that was killed was bagged and fed to the wolves and later the grizzlies. No, I did not take any venison home. It was against the contract.

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930205&slug=1683894

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19930201&id=zUJWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=juoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3913,81726

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/1993/feb/15/letter-blood-on-its-hands/?print=1

The next year I was slated to pack into the Olympics for three one week culls to deal with a major goat problem. Didnt make that, too bad, Army got in the way.

IIRC the finnaly tally was around 57.

[OttoVonBismarck]

You said before you weren't reading articles.

I have no problem reading articles you post, only an objection to a certain individual that I haven't taken seriously in years and whose existence I find to be objectionable due to massively unpleasant personality and extremely boring style of discussion.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I don't know what the difference is between a necropsy and an autopsy, but an autopsy was done before the butchering and it was done in public.

It's an English term of art nit pick, an M.E. or similar performs autopsies on humans and would exclusively refer to their work product as an autopsy. A necropsy is the equivalent procedure when done on a non-human animal and all veterinarians I've known use the term necropsy and never the term autopsy. [Vets do this not for the legal purposes that human physicians do, but because some animal owners are interested for various reasons in trying to ascertain cause of death of their animal.] The words are basically synonyms but I've never heard an M.D. refer to the procedure on a human cadaver as a necropsy and I've never heard a vet refer to the procedure on a non-human animal as an autopsy.

[Liep]

We're at it again, killing lions and what not.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlnyXiM9AVU

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/denmark/11934130/Danish-zoo-dissects-lion-in-front-of-children.html