News
"Euthanasia" At The Zoo
Even the bureaucratic expression for it is creepy: when an animal belonging to a zoo is "management-euthanised", it means it is put down. Sometimes there are medical reasons, sometimes not. It can also be a matter of "surplus", like the young giraffe that was put to sleep in Copenhagen Zoo.
An estimated figure between 3,000 and 5,000 seems to be the average number of animals that zoos kill every year. The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) has precise rules and various breeding programmes, and for each species in the programme there is a kind of inventory which records every animal's birth, genetic make-up, and death. But often the reason for an animal to be put down is not specified by the zoos.
But we know that since October 2012 five giraffes have been put down in Denmark. Four hippos were killed across Europe in 2012 in Portugal, Spain, Germany and Denmark. Twenty-two healthy zebras were put down between 2000 and 2012. Eleven Arabian Oryx were killed in Edinburgh, London, Rotterdam and Zurich between 2000 and 2009, plus dozens more at zoos in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (which are part of the European breeding programme).
Four German zookeepers were also prosecuted in 2010 for culling three tiger cubs at Magdeburg Zoo "without reasonable cause", though the EAZA judged the step "entirely reasonable and scientifically valid".
An estimated figure between 3,000 and 5,000 seems to be the average number of animals that zoos kill every year. The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) has precise rules and various breeding programmes, and for each species in the programme there is a kind of inventory which records every animal's birth, genetic make-up, and death. But often the reason for an animal to be put down is not specified by the zoos.
But we know that since October 2012 five giraffes have been put down in Denmark. Four hippos were killed across Europe in 2012 in Portugal, Spain, Germany and Denmark. Twenty-two healthy zebras were put down between 2000 and 2012. Eleven Arabian Oryx were killed in Edinburgh, London, Rotterdam and Zurich between 2000 and 2009, plus dozens more at zoos in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (which are part of the European breeding programme).
Four German zookeepers were also prosecuted in 2010 for culling three tiger cubs at Magdeburg Zoo "without reasonable cause", though the EAZA judged the step "entirely reasonable and scientifically valid".