Denmark, the land of enchanting fairy tales and liberal social values, is becoming known as the land of dead zoo animals.
The Copenhagen Zoo, which generated global outrage last month when it killed a healthy 18-month-old giraffe named Marius, said it had to euthanize four lions this week to clear the path for a newly arrived young male lion. The zoo’s decision created a backlash on social media on Wednesday, with some calling the zoo’s staff members “serial killers†and “murderers.â€Â
The zoo justified the killings of the two parents, ages 14 and 16, and their cubs on the grounds of genetic purity and conservation, noting that the new lion would invariably prey on the cubs, while there was a risk that the older male lion would try to breed with one of the female lions that were his offspring.
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RELATED COVERAGE
Lions ate the remains of Marius, a healthy giraffe, after the Copenhagen Zoo killed him because his genes were well represented.Anger Erupts After Danish Zoo Kills a ‘Surplus’ GiraffeFEB. 9, 2014
World Briefing: Denmark: Copenhagen Zoo Kills Four LionsMARCH 25, 2014
“If the zoo had not made the change in the pride now, then we would have risked that the old male would mate with these two females  his own offspring  and thereby give rise to inbreeding,†it said in a statement on Wednesday.
The zoo attracted international ire after shooting Marius in the head, and then, in what animal rights groups called a nightmarish spectacle, dissecting him in front of a crowd that included children, before feeding him to a group of lions. At the time, it invoked a similar argument, noting that zoos in Europe have a small gene pool and that there was a risk of inbreeding if Marius reproduced.
Some say the killings, fairly or not, are undermining Danes’ international image. “Danes are used to being looked upon as the good guys, as people who put a lot of money into foreign aid, and have a high living standard,†Bo Sondergaard, national affairs editor at Politiken, a leading Danish newspaper, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday. “Now when you say you are from Denmark, people say, ‘Oh, the giraffe killers.’ “
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Story a few days old but what the fuck? I am an animal lover and news like these ruin my day. The murder of the Giraffe didn't hit me as hard (but it still did) as the murder of these four lions, of all the felines I love lions the most.
What explains this ruthless killing of
zoo animals? They have never seen the light of wild and are shot to death to feed other animals in the zoo or just because a new one has come to take their place? Just because there were too many? I am not generalising but this zoo should be fucking burned down. What are the Denmark officials doing?
They could have donated or even sold the murdered animals to other zoos yet they decided to just kill them anyway.
Fucking pricks.
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