Marius the Giraffe Put Down and His Meat Fed to Other Zoo Animals

[FlickerHush 46]

A Danish zoo put down a 2 year old Giraffe and fed it to the zoo's carnivores. Visitors including young children were invited to watch the carnivores eat the animal.

 

News Articles: http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/national/marius-the-giraffe-put-down-at-copenhagen-zoo/story-fnl2dwun-1226822262538

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2555079/Danish-zoo-kills-young-giraffe-deemed-surplus-feeds-lions.html

 

Giraffes being my favorite animals hearing this almost made me cry. I was curious to hear other opinions and maybe raise awareness about this zoo's terrible act.

 

So anyways, thoughts, opinions?

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

 

Now the children will be stuck with that image and would not want to come back to the zoo again. Why take a giraffe and just put it down to feed the carnivores. That is totally barbaric. The zoo should be fined and sued for animal abuse. 

[FlickerHush 46]

 

Now the children will be stuck with that image and would not want to come back to the zoo again. Why take a giraffe and just put it down to feed the carnivores. That is totally barbaric. The zoo should be fined and sued for animal abuse. 

It is sad and nother thing I just learned is that they even discected the giraffe in front of the children. Why a parent would bring a child to see that I'm not sure. and fro  picture it doesn't even seem sanitary. it looks like a road side or something. It makes me sick.

[Thunderchild 875]

I read about this yesterday-the zoo said that it was related to the program wanting to eliminate inbreeding in the community of giraffes.

 

What I don't understand is why he couldn't have been donated or sold to another zoo in another area, rather than butchered. There was an outcry by animal rights groups and the general population, facebook campaigns, all to no avail.

 

Sometimes it seems like they're just cruel for the sake of it.

[Castle Bleck 19,206]

Y u do dis 2 teh kidz, Denmark?

Edited February 10, 2014 by Anti-Villain

[Untitled Goose Q 5,136]

I read about this yesterday-the zoo said that it was related to the program wanting to eliminate inbreeding in the community of giraffes.

 

What I don't understand is why he couldn't have been donated or sold to another zoo in another area, rather than butchered. There was an outcry by animal rights groups and the general population, facebook campaigns, all to no avail.

 

Sometimes it seems like they're just cruel for the sake of it.

From what I read, none of the other zoos would take Marius.

 

I don't know enough about the situation to judge if putting Marius down was the best option, but at least the meat was not wasted.

[Chigens and Kay 3,831]

I don't really see a problem with it.

 

If no other zoo wanted the giraffe, why not make a learning experience out of it and then feed the carnivores what they would most likely be eating in the wild anyway? I assume thousands of giraffe die each week and are eaten or wasted in the wild. How come when some humans kill it (and don't waste it by the way) it's some huge deal?

[FlickerHush 46]

I read about this yesterday-the zoo said that it was related to the program wanting to eliminate inbreeding in the community of giraffes.

 

What I don't understand is why he couldn't have been donated or sold to another zoo in another area, rather than butchered. There was an outcry by animal rights groups and the general population, facebook campaigns, all to no avail.

 

Sometimes it seems like they're just cruel for the sake of it.

 

From what I read, none of the other zoos would take Marius.

 

I don't know enough about the situation to judge if putting Marius down was the best option, but at least the meat was not wasted.

 

From what I've read they put him down because he was no longer interesting or needed. He was a grown adult giraffe. He was needed while he was a baby because people like baby animals. I also heard that his genes were already used and Marius didn't offer anything new to the breeding system. 

I heard that many places offered even private owner. But since  none of these places agreed with the "ethics" of  their zoo. It over all doesn't add up to me and I feel like there is more to the story then what is being told.

[Untitled Goose Q 5,136]

From what I've read they put him down because he was no longer interesting or needed. He was a grown adult giraffe. He was needed while he was a baby because people like baby animals. I also heard that his genes were already used and Marius didn't offer anything new to the breeding system. 

I heard that many places offered even private owner. But since  none of these places agreed with the "ethics" of  their zoo. It over all doesn't add up to me and I feel like there is more to the story then what is being told.

There always is more to the story than is being told, we never get told everything.

[FlickerHush 46]

I don't really see a problem with it.

 

If no other zoo wanted the giraffe, why not make a learning experience out of it and then feed the carnivores what they would most likely be eating in the wild anyway? I assume thousands of giraffe die each week and are eaten or wasted in the wild. How come when some humans kill it (and don't waste it by the way) it's some huge deal?

There are subspecies of giraffes that are endangered due to poaching and lose of habitat. There are roughly 100,000 giraffes left in south africa along with many subspecies that are dwindling. Giraffes have strong legs and have been known to kill lions who are their main enemies in the wild. But giraffes are mostly killed by hunters who want their skins.

 

I feel like zoos should show care for their animals especially ones that are dwindling. I suppose to me it's not a normal Zoo action. and kids come to see animals running and playing not dead on the side of the road. I don't know maybe it's my opinion but I feel like it's very wrong.

[UserNotFound 964]

From what I read, none of the other zoos would take Marius.

 

I don't know enough about the situation to judge if putting Marius down was the best option, but at least the meat was not wasted.

That's strange because from what I read they had had offers from other zoos to take him!

[Untitled Goose Q 5,136]

That's strange because from what I read they had had offers from other zoos to take him!

Might have misread it or remembered wrong, but again I don't think we know enough to judge fully.

[UserNotFound 964]

Might have misread it or remembered wrong, but again I don't think we know enough to judge fully.

"COPENHAGEN Zoo turned down offers from other zoos and 500000 euros ($760000) from a private individual to save the life of a healthy giraffe "

 

Hope this helps.

 

I can understand why they wanted to stop inbreeding but... If they had a chance to save him... And he was healthy! I also read that they chose him because he wasn't a baby any more so kids didn't find him cute... He's not cute any more let's kill this one!

Edited February 10, 2014 by JellyBean

[Untitled Goose Q 5,136]

"COPENHAGEN Zoo turned down offers from other zoos and 500000 euros ($760000) from a private individual to save the life of a healthy giraffe "

Yes, I have read that now, I read a different link that did not include that bit. It is a shame, but if the zoo has rules that it must follow, then such things will happen.

 

Doesn't mean the rules should not be looked at, of course. I think they probably do need revising.

[Chigens and Kay 3,831]

There are subspecies of giraffes that are endangered due to poaching and lose of habitat. There are roughly 100,000 giraffes left in south africa along with many subspecies that are dwindling. Giraffes have strong legs and have been known to kill lions who are their main enemies in the wild. But giraffes are mostly killed by hunters who want their skins.

 

I feel like zoos should show care for their animals especially ones that are dwindling. I suppose to me it's not a normal Zoo action. and kids come to see animals running and playing not dead on the side of the road. I don't know maybe it's my opinion but I feel like it's very wrong.

 

An animal raised in captivity lacks the survival skills necessary to be released back into the wild.

 

I believe they did the best thing in these circumstances. Seeing as the giraffe apparently had no place else to go.

[Goblin 8]

Seems strange to kill the giraffe if organizations capable of caring for it properly are willing to buy it?

 

But, yeah, I can't complain about cruelty. They can afford to put him down quickly after a (hopefully) decent life in captivity. Animals that don't need to die do all the time so that I can have cheeseburgers and bacon, which is not much of a justification compared to avoiding inbreeding.

[Tigerpop198 696]

If I was in the zoo's position I would of sold it. I heard on the news that they used this as a learning experience for the children to teach them about the anatomy of an animal, which seems like a pretty traumatizing event.

[DubWolf 16,744]

It's the ciiiircle of liiiiife! No wait, what!? Where they short on zoo food? They could have dealt with this another way than to end this magnificent creature's life so young. Monsters. Well at least he was put down first.

[Venomous 18,818]

I literally just saw this on the news.

 

It's a shame.. They shouldn't have shot the poor thing.

Just keep it isolated from it's immediate family to prevent inbreeding. (They put it down to avoid it breeding with its relatives).

 

It was disgusting how the zoo staff allowed visitors to witness the lions eating the giraffe.

[LunarWave 106]

There was a logical reason, it was fun and educational. 

That's not barbaric, that's awesome and pretty much natural. 

[GuerrierCosmique 146]

In nature carnivores brutally attack and slaughter animals to survive all the time and that meat from the supermarket lived once too. I don't see what is bad with that. Where is the difference between a giraffe put down and fed to carnivore animals in the zoo and 8 week old chickens killed in toxic gas chambers, manufactured into their flesh parts and served to human children unaware about the origin?

Edited February 11, 2014 by Sky Marshal Antanica

[Untitled Goose Q 5,136]

Thinking about it some more, I do not think there is anything else they could have done, really.

 

 

Marius was male, and therefore less useful for breeding purposes than a female, combined with the fact that his genes were well represented anyway means that he is not useful at all there.

 

The giraffe could not go anywhere else with a different breeding program, due to the rules of the EAZA, which the zoo do not write but must obey. The same applies for private individuals.

 

Just keeping the giraffe is a drain on resources, one that he was not doing anything to make up for, and it was therefore a needless waste, and Marius would not survive in the wild.

 

I suspect that the outcry is actually because Marius was butchered publicly, and in front of children, however this was educational for them. They need to learn at some point.

 

Quite honestly, anybody who is not a strict vegan and has never made use of anything involving real leather should not criticize. This is exactly the sort of thing that happens in the wild anyway.

 

And of course, there are those (Animal Rights Sweden, I'm looking at you!) who have said that because of this people should not visit zoos, however this would be worse, as no visitors to the zoos = no revenue, no revenue = no way to keep the zoo open, which means the animals cannot be cared for at all, and therefore many animals will die.

 

There really was not any other options that I can see.

[Judgement 445]

I would understand if he was having health

issues and wouldn't live much longer, but to kill

an animal because it "provides no more use" is

just wrong in my eyes. Animal rights are not

respected at all. This poor giraffe... There's

so many evil people in the world. Why. Animals

are constantly abused every day. I will NEVER

kill an animal. I know the food chain and how things work but to kill a captive animal for no

reason. They didn't even give the Giraffe a fair

chance to escape into the world. They could have released him into the wild and give him a fair chance at life.

Edited February 12, 2014 by Judgement

[~Silver Essence~ 2,622]

And kids can watch this kind of stuff? That country sure has it tough.

 

But I guess that's okay, after all, that is how nature works for animals especially carnivores. 

[Goblin 8]

In nature carnivores brutally attack and slaughter animals to survive all the time and that meat from the supermarket lived once too. I don't see what is bad with that. Where is the difference between a giraffe put down and fed to carnivore animals in the zoo and 8 week old chickens killed in toxic gas chambers, manufactured into their flesh parts and served to human children unaware about the origin?

 

People don't have to kill it themselves and cows aren't very cute, so it's magically okay? I don't know.