Leocide

About 6 weeks ago, when the Copenhagen Zoo decided to euthanize a healthy giraffe, because it didn’t fit into their breeding program and they wanted to get in some fresh blood, I defended the zoo.  Lots of people around the world were extremely upset by the decision, particularly the fact that children saw the post-mortem dissection and the meat of the giraffe was ultimately fed to the lions, but those two acts, in my mind, actually spoke in the zoo’s favor.  Education is part of a zoo’s purpose, and lions have to eat.  In the wild, they  eat giraffes all the time.

Bengt Holst, Animal Killer

Now, it’s happening again, and I’m not so sure.  This time it’s the lions’ turn.  The zoo has euthanized 4 lions, two of whom were 10 month old cubs, because they wanted to get a new, better male lion and a zoo spokesperson said the new lion would just kill them anyway, first chance he got.

That’s probably true, I know bears do that, but it seems to me there are at least two good ways around that dilemma.  One, of course, is to pass on getting a new lion.  I understand that they’re trying to breed the best pride they can, but why?  How many zoo visitors know the difference between a blue ribbon, prize winning lion and a crap lion?  The 2nd way would be to keep the new lion in a different place and have two lion exhibits.  Bring the females to him when the time is right.

I am not an animal expert, so I will concede that the zookeepers might have had valid reasons, but I am skeptical.  If it had been a different zoo, I would be saying “Well, this is probably just the kind of thing zoos do and we’re just finding out about it now because the internet is like that and there are a lot of things that are true and we’re just finding out about now, like just what a huge number of vicious, sadistic pricks are working in America’s police departments, and what a staggering number of individuals can look at pictures of cats all day long and never get bored.”

But, it’s the same zoo.  So, you have to wonder why they are doing this repeatedly, and other zoos apparently are not.  Either that, or every other zoo in the world has no employees who are on facebook or are acquainted with any journalists, and I don’t believe that.

I’m guessing that Bengt Holst, scientific director of the Copenhagen  Zoo, views it as a breeding center and, like with dogs or horses, he is trying out his eugenics experiment (breeding program).  I suppose, if he can ride out the wave of public disapproval, he might succeed and in a few years, Copenhagen Zoo will have the handsomest animals in captivity.  The fittest, fiercest lions, the most elegant giraffes, the most energetic monkeys, and the most colorful parrots.

But, I hope he gets sacked before then.  Because that attitude sucks.