Denmark's Copenhagen Zoo has caused a swirl of controversy after it killed a two-year-old giraffe on Sunday and fed the carcass to its lions -- all while customers watched.
Even though the giraffe, named Marius, was healthy, the zoo said it couldn't allow him to reach maturity in order to prevent inbreeding.
However, they went ahead with killing the animal despite having offers from other zoos and a private individual to take him.
The zoo's Stenbaek Bro said parents decided whether to allow their children to watch yesterday's gruesome spectacle, telling the Associated Press, "I'm actually proud because I think we have given children a huge understanding of the anatomy of a giraffe that they wouldn't have had from watching a giraffe in a photo."
Bro said the zoo followed the recommendation of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria to put down Marius because there already were a lot of giraffes with similar genes in the organization's breeding program.
As for why they didn't let another zoo or individual take the giraffe, Bro said that a part of EAZA membership is that the zoos can't sell the animals to anyone outside the organization that doesn't follow the same rules.
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