'Surplus' giraffe put down at Copenhagen Zoo

[Halb]

He would have had a nice home in Yorkshire.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26098935

[bexVN]

Story in mail today that Longleat put to sleep a young lioness ans some cubs, due to aggression! (and overbreeding apparently)

Difficult to get the full story but sounds pretty atrocious either way. I read about the giraffe earlier. Zoo's are a law unto themselves. Not sure how the inbreeding was allowed to happen in the first place and why did they wait til he was 18 months old to destroy him?

[anonymous-user]

Sometimes I wonder where the real risk of inbreeding manifests itself.

In this case the zoo owners have shown appalling judgement. I wish them and their animal prison nothing but harm.

[Jasandjules]

I couldn't quite believe it when I read it, along with the Lioness and her cubs. Tragic and disgraceful.

[shoebag]

Unbelievably sad and sickening. Marius was offered a home with other male giraffes in the UK and they still killed him. Copenhagen Zoo need to have their zoo licence taken away.

[52classic]

A zoo spokesman is reported to have said that if Yorkshire Wildlife Park has room for additional animals they should choose a 'more genetically valuable species.'

[bexVN]

52classic said:

A zoo spokesman is reported to have said that if Yorkshire Wildlife Park has room for additional animals they should choose a 'more genetically valuable species.'

I'd have thought that was their decision to make.

[52classic]

Sure! But isn't that typical of the moral high ground that seems to accompany anything backed by a 'Euro Directive?'

[paintman]

52classic said:

A zoo spokesman is reported to have said that if Yorkshire Wildlife Park has room for additional animals they should choose a 'more genetically valuable species.'

Perhaps the same could be said of the zoo spokesman.

[VinceFox]

I'm struggling to believe this one. How the hell does someone remain in their post after making this sort of decision when other zoos had already offered the animal a home?

fking aholes.

[Kiltie]

Chris Packham comments on this in today's Guardian.

Reckons it'll have done huge PR damage to zoos all over Europe and beyond.

[Saleen836]

Jasandjules said:

I couldn't quite believe it when I read it, along with the Lioness and her cubs. Tragic and disgraceful.

Longleat safari park posted a statement on their Facebook page a couple of days ago informing everyone for their reasoning.

[GokTweed]

It's not tragic or disgraceful the lioness was genetically flawed due to massive inbreeding. Herself and her cubs had big quality of life issues and so had to be put down on grounds of welfare. And I believe there was a similar reason for not keeping the giraffe as it was too closely related to breed from. To be fair it was fed to the lions and did provide good education to the kids watching the dissection. It's a shame it had to be euthanised but it probably raised a lot of attention about the zoo and the animals it keeps which may hopefully help in the long run. Whether you believe in zoos or not is another debate.

Edited by GokTweed on Tuesday 11th February 21:24

[bexVN]

It still doesn't excuse how the inbreeding was allowed to happen in the first place

[Melman Giraffe]

Wrong on every level RIP my friend

[GokTweed]

bexVN said:

It still doesn't excuse how the inbreeding was allowed to happen in the first place

Of course not and someone's going to have to take the rap for that. They were casualties of human cock ups which seems to be the case more and more often these days!

[bernhund]

How can anyone claim 'genes' being a problem when he should have been wandering around Africa among the other giraffes, which no doubt have a greater variety of genes? Sounds like an own gaol...sorry..goal for zoos.

[Granville]

So 20-30 animals at that zoo being destroyed every year!!!!!!!! They clearly do not have a very good breeding programme in place, or are they allowing this over / in-breeding purely to feed the lions?

If they didn't want him, then re-home to the many centres that were offering to take him, or at least castrate him. To allow him to get to 18 months and then just destroy him is barbaric just to keep their breeding gene strong. There was nothing preventing him going to a new home and breeding or living out his life happy and alive.

They should be ashamed of themselves.

[Turbodiesel1976]

This story has pissed me off alot - he looked like a lovely giraffe, zoos are supposed to look after animals not blast them in the head with a fking bolt gun. Its just wrong

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Turbodiesel1976 said:

This story has pissed me off alot - he looked like a lovely giraffe,

Have you ever seen a giraffe and thought "he looks like a wrong 'un?"

They all look lovely. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the situation, I don't think cuteness should be a deciding factor. If they'd destroyed a nest of rare parasitic wasps, no one would give two hoots. That's what's wrong!