A zoo in Denmark requires donations of small, healthy but unwanted animals as food for its predators.
The Aalborg Zoo said that it tries to imitate the natural food chain of the animals that are housed there “because of both animal welfare and professional integrity” and offers guarantees that the donated animals will be “softly euthanized” by trained staff.
The zoo in the north of Denmark explained in a Facebook message that “if you have a healthy animal that needs to be given away for various reasons, you feel free to donate it to us”.
The zoo pointed out to live guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens as possible donations, and said that such animals form “an important part of the diet of our predators”.
After they have been euthanized, the animals will be used as food to be completely eaten by the predators, the zoo said.
The zoo said his Eurasian lynx “needs whole prey that looks like what it would of course hunt in the wild”. Source: Getty / Arterra/Universal Images Group
“In this way nothing is lost and we will ensure natural behavior, nutrition and well-being of our predators,” said the zoo. In particular, it quoted the Eurasian Lynx, “that whole prey needs that looks like what it would of course hunt in the wild”.
The online call for donations is accompanied by a photo of a lynx that picks up his teeth wide open and a link to the website of the zoo.
The facility has also said that it is interested in receiving horses that have not been treated for illness for the past 30 days and have an eligible ‘horse passport’.
The zoo does not mention other animals as possible donations.
Zoo officer says that request is ‘meaningful’
The Instagram page of the zoo has received a stream of reactions in which he criticized the callout, and since then it has removed the possibility to comment on the original post in response to what the “hateful” comments called.
Pia Nielsen, the deputy director of the zoo, has defended the request and said that the zoo had fed his carnivores with a smaller cattle for many years.
Nielsen said it was necessary to provide them with meat, preferably with fur and bones, to “give the animals a diet as naturally as possible”.
“That is why it is useful to allow animals that must be euthanized in this way of use for various reasons.
“In Denmark this practice is customary and many of our guests and partners appreciate the possibility of contributing.”
Anette Sofie Warncke Nutzhorn, one of the managers of the zoo, told Agence France-Presse that it was “looking for small cattle, no pets”, using the example of a chicken that no longer lays eggs.
Practices in Danish zoos, in particular the euthanasia of healthy animals to limit the risk of inbreeding, have caused fierce international criticism in the past.
In 2014, a giraffe calf named Marius was placed in the Copenhagen -animal garden and the staff later carried out an autopsy on the carcass for visitors before it was felt on the lions.
– With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
#zoo #guinea #pig #food #predators