Marius

I just read about it, and I'm pretty shocked. He wasn't even sick ie a mercy killing, but healthy. If they want to make an educational opportunity out of something like this, at least choose an animal that was already sick and about to be euthenized, do it with dignity. This was appalling.

I'm heartbroken, there is no good excuse for this. Humans suck.

"I will never let you part,for you are always in my heart" MJ
"turn to page 394" Snape

Euthanasia is a normal part of animal husbandry, for many reasons, in farms and zoos, and I daresay there may have been good reasons not to keep him (though normal contraceptive policies should have prevented his birth in the first place). However, refusal to let him be taken by other zoos that offered to take him on was arrogant, hubristic, and in PR terms a phenomenally foolish thing for any zoo to do, when it can be deemed as unnecessary. This is really about "expert" arrogance - ("f--ck them; whadda they know?") that I suspect they will regret, given the negative impact it will have on perception of zoos in general and this one in particular.


Call me Ishmael...

What bothers me the most is that, according to their statements, they don't believe in contraception for their giraffe population due to physical side effects, so: more spare giraffes with the same DNA as Marius are coming in the future and the same fate awaits every one of them. "Come to the zoo, folks. Admire us as we grow our own big cat food supply." We're so proud of ourselves for that. This is HORRIBLE for all zoos.

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Peace on Earth - Good Will to All (People and Dogs...and Cats)

I've changed my signature in honor of Marius. There must be some other way to remember this little guy.

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Peace on Earth - Good Will to All (People and Dogs...and Giraffes)

I think what the Copenhagen Zoo did to an 18 to 24 month old giraffe was insanity in action. What do you think?It's horrific. Killing a healthy young giraffe is unconscionable. "Autopsying" him in front of an audience, before feeding some of his remains to lions, is beyond appalling.


You gotta start off each day with a song ... even when things go wrong ....

I just added this as an edit to my original post: The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. These Danish zoos (two of them now) and EAZA are insane. They let their animals breed just on the chance that the offspring will have a desirable bloodline for their experiment in eugenics. If the offspring ends up with a dull bloodline, they can just make a spectacle out of butchering the animal. No problem, there'll just be more big cat meat coming down the line, because they don't do anything to control the population...yep, that's moral insanity on the march.

Why do they keep naming them Marius? Just call them what they are from birth, Inhouse Meat Supply.

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Peace on Earth - Good Will to All (People and Dogs...and Giraffes)

I was appalled. A private person offered $700,000 (I think) to help rehome him and several zoos offered to take him.

And this is probably ignorance on my part, but if they were concerned about inbreeding, could they not have neutered him?

Have a nice day!
I kick arse for the Lord!