Anger Erupts Over Danish Zoo’s Decision to Put Down a Giraffe
Marius the reticulated giraffe died at the Copenhagen Zoo on Sunday. He was 2 years old.
The
cause of death was a shotgun blast, and after a public autopsy, the
animal, who was 11 feet 6 inches, was fed to the zoo’s lions and other
big cats.
Zoo administrators said they decided to put down Marius,
who was in good health, because his genes were already well represented
among the captive giraffe population in European zoos. But that
explanation failed to satisfy animal rights activists who had mounted a
furious last-minute campaign to save him.
Besides
nearly 30,000 online signatures from those who did want Marius
euthanized, Copenhagen Zoo officials received death threats after they
turned down adoption offers from other zoos, as well as a bid of 500,000
euros, the equivalent of $681,000, from an individual who was willing
to take Marius in.
One
group, Animal Rights Sweden, urged people to stop visiting zoos as a
protest, The Associated Press reported. “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.
Marius
was born in captivity at the Copenhagen Zoo, where there are seven
reticulated giraffes, a species that is native to Africa and is not
endangered but faces threats from habitat loss and hunting.
“A
giraffe is not a pet; it’s not like a dog or cat that becomes part of
the family,” Bengt Holst, the zoo’s scientific director, said by
telephone. “It is a wild animal.”
Mr.
Holst said he had decided against sending Marius to another zoo because
that would have opened the door to inbreeding, and potentially removed a
place for a giraffe whose genetic makeup was more valuable in terms of
future offspring in captive breeding programs.
Mr. Holst seemed caught off guard by the public protest, calling it “totally out of proportion.”
“People said, ‘If you kill the giraffe, I’ll kill you,' ” he said. “It’s insane.”
“We
don’t do it to be cruel; we do it to ensure a healthy population,” he
added. “You have to breed them to make sure the population is renewed.”
As for individual offers, Mr. Holst said giraffes were social animals and could not be kept in isolation.
Giraffes
are allowed to breed in captivity since it is part of their natural
behavior in the wild, Mr. Holst said, even though breeding can produce
what he called “a surplus animal.”
“As long as they are with us, we want them to have a good life, with as much natural behavior as possible,” he said.
Marius was not full grown, Mr. Holst said. He could have grown another three feet or so.
A
shotgun rather than an injection was used to end the giraffe’s life so
his meat would be safe to eat for the zoo’s predator animals. And
following an autopsy that was open to visitors as an educational
opportunity, Marius’s remains were fed to the zoo’s lions.
“We still have meat for lions, tigers and leopards,” Mr. Holst said. “It’s just meat that can be fed to every animal.”
No comments:
Post a Comment