Danish zoo to dissect culled lion in public education move
The zoo says the lion was "surplus" to the space in the zoo and visitors find the event interesting
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Children and parents will gather to watch the dissection of a lion at a Danish zoo, despite an outcry over a similar procedure with a giraffe at a different zoo last year.
The Odense zoo in central Denmark has culled a male lion and kept it in a freezer for nine months because of a "surplus" of lions at the site - and will be holding a public dissection to educate onlookers, according to The Guardian.
A wave of controversy broke over Copenhagen Zoo when it killed healthy two-year old giraffe Marius for reasons involving their breeding programme, saying his genes were "already well-represented" in other zoos.
At that zoo, staff received death threats after Marius was fed to a family of lions - and there was an outcry later when a family of four lions, including two young cubs, was culled.
The cubs were culled because they would "have been too young to fend for themselves" without their parents, The Independent reported at the time.
Now, the Odense zoo is following suit. They have said the lion in question will be dissected next Thursday, and have explained they are firm about their decision.
"The reason we are dissecting it is we believe there is a lot of education in dissecting a lion," Michael Wahlberg Sorensen, a zookeeper at Odense zoo, told The Guardian.
He said visitors "find it interesting to see a lion so up close". The zoo has performed public dissection of lions already without negative reactions, he added.
The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, to which about 340 zoos belong, estimates that somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 tiny to large animals are "management-euthanised" a year, the BBC has reported.
Five years ago three German zookeepers were prosecuted for culling three tiger cubs "without reasonable cause" at Magdeburg Zoo. A zebra and Oryx have been killed in the UK up to 2014.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments