Danish zoo kills 18 month old giraffe in front of public: feeds body to lions

Firstly, I have checked ATS for threads on this through the search function as well as manually going through different thread topics to see if it was posted and didn't find anything.

That said, I was sick to my stomach when I heard this on the news today and was disgusted by another brutality on animals humans are to be ashamed of...especially when we care about the beauty of nature and all its wild life.

Here is the news story:

Danish zoo kills healthy giraffe, feeds body to lions
www.cnn.com...

(CNN) -- An online petition to save a healthy young giraffe from death has failed, despite thousands of signatures from animal lovers.

Copenhagen Zoo said it euthanized the male, named Marius, on Sunday because of a duty to avoid inbreeding.

After an autopsy, "Marius" was dismembered in front of a zoo audience that included children, and fed to the zoo's lions.
Despite online uproar over the move and reports of last-minute attempts to save the animal, the zoo in the Danish capital said it had no place for Marius in its giraffe herd.

Zoo puts down healthy giraffe

CNN anchor Jonathan Mann asked Holst if it would have been possible to sterilize Marius or move him to another zoo to avoid killing him.

"If we just sterilize him, he will take up space for more genetically valuable giraffes," Holst answered.
Did the children watching cry? Mann asked.

Just the opposite, Holst said. The crowd was "very enthusiastic" and "the kids asked good questions."

Fed to the lions

Marius was killed by a bolt gun, not a lethal injection, which would contaminate the meat.

The giraffe's impending death had sparked outrage online, with more than 27,000 people signing a "Save Marius" petition, appealing for a last-minute change of heart.

"The zoo has raised him so it is their responsibility to find him a home," author Maria Evans wrote on the petition site.
Copenhagen Zoo said that due to a massive debate on its Facebook page, it had published a Q&A about the decision on its website.

"It is not possible to transfer the giraffe to another zoo as it will cause inbreeding," it said.

Several zoos volunteered to take Marius in.

The UK's Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which says it has a state-of-the-art giraffe house and the capacity for an extra male, was among several places which put in offers to take him.
............

Other related news articles:
globalnews.ca...

- Before the giraffe was killed, an online petition to save it had received more than 20,000 signatures.

- Stenbaek Bro said Copenhagen Zoo turned down an offer from a private individual who wanted to buy Marius for 500,000 euros ($680,000). Stenbaek Bro said a significant part of EAZA membership is that the zoos don’t own the animals themselves, but govern them, and therefore can’t sell them to anyone outside the organization that don’t follow the same set of rules.

-“It is no secret that animals are killed when there is no longer space, or if the animals don’t have genes that are interesting enough,” the organization said in a statement. “The only way to stop this is to not visit zoos.”

www.nytimes.com...
www.independent.co.uk...

So if you have noticed I put some of the article sentences in different colors to uncover some of the bulls*** that the zoo spokesperson is telling the media.

Noticed that the zoo said they "euthanized" the giraffe before the bolt gun? And then later it was discovered it wasn't euthanized so that the meat wasn't contaminated?



That was the first thing that really stirred me inside...is how the zoo LIED to the public...heck, I have CNN running in the background and they are saying there too that it was euthanized as well...how incredible is this?

Honestly, there were people against this...there were organizations and other people interested in taking in the giraffe. And what does the zoo do? Puts up a big middle finger to everyone and does its own thing.

I condemn the zoo on this and I don't care if it is in their policy or not. Want to rid of a giraffe? How about trying to set it free in the wild and let it fend for itself rather than have a controlled killing of it. I mean it is a domesticated animal. Trusted human beings like no other...only to be brutally slaughtered for its innocence.

That is why I don't go to zoos. I don't believe in their practices and encagement of innocent animals. I love seeing the real deal in the wild. I will view HD videos online or on tv to see the nature.

I want to know how you feel ATS members....this is the saddest thing I have heard in a while...

By the way, there are a lot more images and videos of this online. I will not show these here as they are way too graphic. Feel free to google it yourself. But if you have a sensitive stomach or mind, don't observe them. I watched a little...and had to stop. *covers eyes*

If it was not the Giraffe, what animal would have had a bolt through its head to feed the lions?

Is a giraffe worth more than a cow or a sheep. The lions do have to eat.

How about we have a day of mourning for all the other animals that are used to feed the lions and tigers.

Should we get upset over all of Mickey Mouse's cousins that die each day to feed the snakes and lizards.

They had a spare animal, they used it as a food source.

P

Recycling at it's finest I suppose, better that than letting it be hunted for sport.

reply to post by pheonix358


You are right. If you are going to have animals in captivity, you have to feed them.

It's the circle of life no need to get your nickers in a bunch. creatures die everyday and a good percentage are killed by humans! Is this news? IMO $#it happens

Thats like killing extra dogs and cats -in front of public onlookers - to feed homeless people.

Last I checked, neither dogs, cats, nor giraffes, are domesticated agricultural livestock in the West.

The only problem I really have with this, is that it was done in front of children. Even then... it's the circle of life. Our children are usually on this earth for a fair amount of time these days before they even realize where the food they eat comes from. It was not always that way. It used to be that they knew by the time they were walking that someone was killing an animal so they could eat. I wouldn't be surprised if some preteens were still not aware of the "animals" they eat.

In that vein, other animals have to eat as well. I can't watch some of the stuff on Nat Geo because it is sad to me. I KNOW it has to be done but my heart still gets a wee bit heavy when I see the antelope taken down by a pride of lions. It's ridiculous to feel that way of course. It is the way things are meant to be.

I DO NOT like zoos and this is just one reason. I always think the animals look sad in a way because they are not in their right habitat. They can not roam free. People are in charge of what they eat, when they eat, when they play, etc.

It is sad really only because we/they had to see it when we usually do not. So while I do think it's sad on one level, it is logically what would have occurred in the wild at some other point.

reply to post by Skywatcher2011


Danish zoo kills healthy giraffe, feeds body to lions .... in front of public..children?

You got to be kiddin'

How can somebody consider doing this...?

reply to post by Skywatcher2011


And meanwhile nobody sheds a tear for the thousands of chickens that die each year to entertain visitors to the crocodile exhibits. People don't care about the chickens, they just wanna see the croc jump.

People only seem to care about the cute animals, the tasmanian blob fish is endangered, but it's ugly as sin so no one cares. But everyone wants to keep the Pandas, even though the are too dim witted and lazy to mate.

Absolutely disgusting and cruel

I won't scroll down to see other replies. I saw a glimps of a pic. So I won't participate in this thread to have to look at the pic or any other pics or graphic details.

It's unbearable and breaks my heart. The giraffe had no business being there in the first place, it belongs in the jungle where it came from and they say it's in the way?

If there was one wish I had left in my lifetime , it would be that zoos are abolished. There's so much hi tech. These days, they could have virtual zoos , 3D theatre screens to engage spectators for educational purposes. This way the animals don't suffer a life sentence to incarceration and voyeurusm.

I'm actually still surprised it's still allowed. It's so wrong.
Try to imagine if this was you or a family member , snatched away.
For what? So we can look at them? Yeah they look miserable. Poor little darlings

reply to post by Skywatcher2011


So are lions like vampires and require the blood to be alive?


Simple question

No one here that eats meat of any kind has any room to make any noises of complaint.

The conditions many animals used for human consumption must tolerate are deplorable at best.

This giraffe lived, and lived well during its short life, and, even had quite the nobel death and use in death.
It's death served not only educational purposes, but ...
Who gets to get eaten by lions?
Now, that's certainly a way to go out.

Complaints about getting killed in front of children?
Take your concerns up with the parents that TOOK their children to the spectacle.
Take your concern up with all the children that live all over the planet on farms.
Further, how do you feel about other people telling you how you should raise your children?

reply to post by pheonix358


Of course animals have to eat, but this belongs in their own environment , where they have to work for their capture .
This was deliberate and used in their show. Entertainment. Human or animal it's still barbaric.
Anyone who can stand by watching that has to have a sick mind.

reply to post by violet

This was deliberate and used in their show. Entertainment.

Entertainment or education ?
Maybe people and their children should be shown around abattoirs so the kids understand where that burger or pork chop they're so fond of comes from .

reply to post by violet


Amusement, I think not.

Educational, yes!

When I was in school we visited the abattoir ans saw animals killed and Gutted. Can't show little kiddies that these days, the little darlings may get traumatized.

Perhaps the Danish are way ahead of us in teaching reality.

The Giraffe is a normal part of a lions diet. It is that simple.

Zoos do this all day every day. What do you think happens to all the spare gazelles and other such animals that breed quite well.

Should we have zoos, no, I don't think so. But then would screens be the same, not one bit.

P

Allready posted and disscussed.

My opinion is inside, no need to put it here to.

Other thread

reply to post by AliceBleachWhite

No one here that eats meat of any kind has any room to make any noises of complaint.

Well being an absolute vegetarian (doesn't slip) for over a decade now are you saying I can make these noises and they are valid?

Personally I wouldn't make a moral argument against this action but the fact it was in a zoo to begin with.

When I was in school my teacher fed a mouse to a snake. Other than sheer scale, this isn't any different.