Marius (a healthy male giraffe) killed at Copenhagen Zoo and fed to lions in view of children

[cali]

now there's a lesson for the little tykes.

A Danish zoo has sparked outrage as it put down a young giraffe then chopped it up and fed it to lions as visitors, including young children, looked on.

The fate of 18-month-old Marius shocked animal lovers around the world, with thousands signing an online petition to save him and a billionaire offering to buy him and keep him in his Beverly Hills garden.

Copenhagen Zoo said the action was necessary to prevent inbreeding and Marius was put down with a bolt gun after being anaesthetised.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/marius-the-giraffe-killed-at-copenhagen-zoo-and-fed-to-lions-20140210-hvbqt.html#ixzz2srUP9ouC

Zoo officials said castration was cruel and had undesirable effects- though it didn't elaborate. They also said they were surprised at the outrage on the part of the public.

[shenmue]

1. Just a stupid waste of life

Especially when others had offered to take him off their hands first.

[LisaL]

12. Exactly. Apparently that zoo had multiple offers for the giraffe, and refused all of them.

[Systematic Chaos]

2. How the fuck do you EVEN???

[Jefferson23]

3. Why would the parents have their children exposed to this spectacle?

Weird story.

[TeamPooka]

4. Zoo workers suprised people love animals. nt

[MrScorpio]

5. The Circle of Life, coming to a zoo near you nt

[liberalmuse]

6. A beautiful giraffe.

I saw this story earlier and was disgusted. Fuck zoos and circuses.

[Are_grits_groceries]

7. A wildlife park in Britain would have taken him.

I think those bastards could have found an acceptable place to send him. They also probably could have raised enough money to equal however much food the giraffe provided.
For some reason They were bound and determined to kill it.

If there were no alternatives, then that would have been a different proposition. I just don't understand this.

[Vinnie From Indy]

8. So, let me see if I have this right.

The zoo was offered cash for the Giraffe and there were many petitions signed from people willing to fork over money to relocate the animal and the zoo officials decided to kill the animal and throw chunks of the beast's carcass to lions in front of visitors.

That sounds a bit unreasonable to me.

[goldent]

9. I don't know about the sterilization thing

as that would seem the best solution. But I'd think they wouldn't be permitted to hand it over to a private individual one, especially one in America. Feeding it to the lions seems OK with me, but they I'd think they would have made sure it couldn't be identified as giraffe meat (vs say pig or cow which are killed by the thousands every day).

[MoonRiver]

10. Castration is cruel, but death is an OK alternative?

I have read that many zoos wanted to take the young giraffe, but the scum zoo director refused. Personally I think he really wanted the lions to eat him. Marius was fresh killed meat, the type lions would eat in the wild.


Here's a petition to get the bastard fired:

http://www.change.org/petitions/bengt-holst-the-resignation-bengt-holst-the-zoo-s-scientific-director-copenhagen-zoo-in-denmark#

[uppityperson]

11. I am torn here. Lions eat meat. There is a difference between a pet and a cow in a herd.

Raise and kill a cow to feed the lions? Not sure how this is different from that except it was a beloved animal, which makes a lot of difference. So, I am torn.

[LisaL]

14. The zoo had children watching how they cut the poor animal up.

[Are_grits_groceries]

15. Feeding the meat to the lions is not the problem to me.

I am upset because I think there were more options that would have allowed the giraffe to live a peaceful life. Any person or place should be vetted to make sure it would be a good place.

[frwrfpos]

13. sick

rec for exposure

[Nye Bevan]

16. Surely it didn't even need to be castrated? Sterilization would have done the trick.

Something weird about this story. They seemed absolutely determined to kill this poor creature for some reason.

[Are_grits_groceries]

17. That's the feeling that I got.

It was a very friendly animal.
They are giving BS answers.

I don't understand this.

[localroger]

18. The zoo administration culture is very weird and inbred

There is a very strong current of opposition to the very idea of keeping animals in captivity, unless it is under their own proper authority and the strictest controls with the ultimate goal of breeding the captive animals to preserve their species.

I am sure the thinking of the zoo officials was along the lines that, since this giraffe could not be fit into any proper breeding program, the best use for it was feeding the lions. Keeping the animal around for the pleasure of humans would be an unacceptable and inappropriate waste of resources and encouragement of other abusive captivity practices.

You really see the conflict between this ivory tower subculture and reality in their treatment of birds. There was a significant minority who actively wanted the California Condor to go extinct, so that it could serve as a useful example, rather than save the species by capturing the few remaining wild individuals and attempting a captive breeding program (which was ultimately done, with great success). To these people the idea that anyone who is not a member of their exclusive club (and in many cases even someone who is) has an animal in a non-natural sitaution is an outrage which can never be condoned.

[arthritisR_US]

19. I detest zoo's and this does nothing to assuage my feelings...

[Recursion]

20. The zoo here keeps the crocodiles and tapirs in the same enclosure

I haven't yet figured out whether crocodiles don't eat tapirs, or that's just how they feed the crocodiles...