Kirislin Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 wow, he was put down in front of an audience, kind of like a public execution. I cant see that happening at Melbourne zoo. ..and then fed out to the lions , again with the public present .... NOT posting a link to teh photos ........... . "castration is cruel" said someone important ...... I wonder if the someone important was given a choice, lose your nuts or lose your life, what would he choose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 What an absolute disgrace and worse, to make a public spectacle of it. Shame on the sick individuals who came to watch. WTF is wrong with some people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 wow, he was put down in front of an audience, kind of like a public execution. I cant see that happening at Melbourne zoo. ..and then fed out to the lions , again with the public present .... NOT posting a link to teh photos ........... . "castration is cruel" said someone important ...... I wonder if the someone important was given a choice, lose your nuts or lose your life, what would he choose? yes..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 alpha bet - if there were health/behavioural issues, perhaps that should have been mentioned? My guess is that more understanding would arise from that ... if the managers knew of a problem with inbreeding this calf should have never been born- or should have been euthed at birth ....instead of probably been a useful drawcard as a gangly big-eyed baby ... and then lion food as a useless adult. exactly, they knew what his bloodlines would be before they allowed his parents to breed. I bet they would have kept him if he had been a she. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I am still wondering at the public killing/butchering/feeding out of this animal - I wonder if it is common practice at some zoos ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Copenhagen zoo don't use birth control as it could damage their internal organs. A wildlife park in the UK put a bid on Marius but didn't recieve a reply from Copenhagen zoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donatella Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 (edited) Bastards!!! Total bastards and to dismember in front of an audience, disgusting. I am saddened and appalled Edited February 10, 2014 by donatella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I'm actually really surprised people wanted to watch that.....it's a bit off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Copenhagen zoo don't use birth control as it could damage their internal organs. A wildlife park in the UK put a bid on Marius but didn't recieve a reply from Copenhagen zoo. Haven't they heard of tying tubes????? Or separating the males from the females. Seems like they let him grow until he was big enough to provide a decent feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannibalgoldfish Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I can see the reasoning behind feeding the remains of a healthy dead animal to the other animals... but I'm a little shocked that they made such a public spectacle of it... I still remember my first trip to Melbourne zoo and seeing the lions happily eating their meal. One had a whole head from a grey horse... It didn't creep me out but I do remember it clearly. Obviously I didn't see them actually butchering said horse, which I very much doubt they'd do in public here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I can maybe shed some light on this situation. Sadly this is the standard method of 'management' for animals excess to the genetic needs of zoos in Europe. The view in the US and here also is that management is done by contraception of animals that they don't wish to further reproduce. However, in Europe they view the act of animals breeding and raising young as being a natural part of their biology and essentially feel that their world is so artificial already that to take that opportunity away from them is reducing further what is part of their natural enrichment by raising their young. Young are allowed to be raised until the age that they would naturally separate from their parent/s and are then removed and euthanized. It's not a process I support but thought I would explain their reasoning here so that people understood why the decision had been made by the zoo. The law requires that animals excess to genetic needs are euthanized and it is possible that the options available to the giraffe may not have rectified the genetic concerns of relatedness that forced them to make the decision in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizabella Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 (edited) I can understand why this method of management occurs- thanks kelpiecuddles for that different perspective on the matter, but I am personally in the camp of 'don't breed if the animal will have no future'. The public spectacle that was made of Marius' death is downright disturbing to me, it seems so disrespectful. I believe that controlled breeding is the more ethical option. On the other hand, why is killing a giraffe (individuals with no conservation value) for meat and killing a domestic animal for meat any different? Is it not better to feed zoo carnivores animals that have been raised with care in a zoo, rather than farmed animals which (certainly in the case of factory farms) may not have had such a pleasant life. But then where do we draw boundaries? The lion situation I can see no positives to whatsoever. Why would they let the population get so large that they could not safely manage them? It seems that drawing in visitors with cute cubs was the reasoning, which to me is so wrong. Edited February 10, 2014 by grizabella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 But then where do we draw boundaries? You don't make the slaughtering and butchery an "event". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 But then where do we draw boundaries? You don't make the slaughtering and butchery an "event". Ditto... T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 On the other hand, why is killing a giraffe (individuals with no conservation value) for meat and killing a domestic animal for meat any different? Is it not better to feed zoo carnivores animals that have been raised with care in a zoo, rather than farmed animals which (certainly in the case of factory farms) may not have had such a pleasant life. This is an interesting point, in a zoo environment I have seen an animal that died of an injury cut up and fed to the other zoo animals. Personally I think in circumstances like that if the animal hasn't been contaminated with drugs that would deem it unsuitable for consumption I think this is a much better use of the meat than disposing of the animal for 'sentimental' reasons. Not sure I could encourage breeding though knowing that the animal would be used for this purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I have no problem with the meat being used to feed the lions either, but the public execution spectacle is awful to me and I too would question why he was ever bred in the first place. On culling, I wish when kangaroos are culled at Puckapunyal and it is in the many thousands, I wish the meat and hides were used instead of just bulldozing them into the ground to rot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I can maybe shed some light on this situation. Sadly this is the standard method of 'management' for animals excess to the genetic needs of zoos in Europe. The view in the US and here also is that management is done by contraception of animals that they don't wish to further reproduce. However, in Europe they view the act of animals breeding and raising young as being a natural part of their biology and essentially feel that their world is so artificial already that to take that opportunity away from them is reducing further what is part of their natural enrichment by raising their young. Young are allowed to be raised until the age that they would naturally separate from their parent/s and are then removed and euthanized. It's not a process I support but thought I would explain their reasoning here so that people understood why the decision had been made by the zoo. The law requires that animals excess to genetic needs are euthanized and it is possible that the options available to the giraffe may not have rectified the genetic concerns of relatedness that forced them to make the decision in the first place. I acknowledge that. But there were a few zoos who wanted Marius and they ignored the requests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I don't have any problem with the fact that he was fed to the other animals... meat is meat. What I have a big problem with is the public spectacle that was made of this regal animals unfortunate demise and then of his disposal... T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 It's not that simple unfortunately. If the zoos concerned had giraffes that were also closely related then they may still not have been able to have him. I'm not sure whether that is the case here but genetic diversity in zoos is generally treated as a 'continent wide' equation, if he didn't fit that equation maybe no zoo in the area could have taken him under the laws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizabella Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 But then where do we draw boundaries? You don't make the slaughtering and butchery an "event". Ditto... T. Agreed. The way they have gone about it has been appalling. But by boundaries I meant, what species is it acceptable to kill and feed out to carnivores? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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