Gara, a Siberian tiger, cares for her new child cubs on the Aalborg Zoo in Denmark in 2008.
Henning Bagger/AFP through Getty Photos
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Henning Bagger/AFP through Getty Photos
A European zoo stirred up intrigue and controversy after a social media publish asking for surplus pets to be donated to feed captive animals went viral.
In a publish on Fb, the Aalborg Zoo in Denmark requested individuals to donate undesirable pets that will be “gently euthanized” and fed to predators in captivity.
“Chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs kind an essential a part of the weight loss plan of our predators – particularly the European lynx, which wants entire prey that resembles what it might naturally hunt within the wild,” the zoo wrote.
“In zoos we’ve a duty to mimic the pure meals chain of the animals – when it comes to each animal welfare {and professional} integrity,” the publish continued. “That method, nothing goes to waste – and we guarantee pure habits, diet and well-being of our predators.”
The zoo additionally accepts horses as a part of its fodder program.
The Fb publish rapidly grew to become a battleground between commenters who had been appalled on the idea of euthanizing wholesome pets for animal feed, and people who applauded the zoo for its technique of sustaining a sensible meals provide for its animals.
A lot of the umbrage directed towards the zoo appeared to stem from using the phrase “pets” to confer with the animals, which referred to as to thoughts the picture of well-loved lapdogs being despatched alive right into a literal lions’ den.
“This can be a joke proper,” one enraged commenter wrote. “Nobody would convey his wholesome pet to a zoo to allow them to kill it and feed it to their animals.”
“In Denmark, this observe is widespread”
The Aalborg Zoo says canine and cats are excluded from this system. Donatable animals are restricted to chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, and horses, it says, including that this can be a observe it has maintained with patrons for years.
“When retaining carnivores, it’s essential to supply them with meat, ideally with fur, bones, and so forth., to offer them as pure a weight loss plan as doable,” zoo Deputy Director Pia Nielsen mentioned in an announcement to NPR.
“Subsequently, it is smart to permit animals that have to be euthanized for varied causes to be of use on this method. In Denmark, this observe is widespread, and plenty of of our company and companions recognize the chance to contribute,” Nielsen added.
What specialists say
Consultants say that it’s important for captive animals to be fed entire animal components, together with fur, bones and organs, to take care of the kind of consuming habits they’d exhibit within the wild.
Captive carnivores in america typically have their diets supplemented with commercially out there meat merchandise, like chunk or mincemeat.
“The issue with simply feeding lions meat is that the offal (liver, coronary heart, and so forth.) is far richer in varied vitamins than muscle meat – wild lions solely begin consuming the muscle tissue after they’ve completed the offal,” Craig Packer, founder and director of the Lion Heart on the College of Minnesota, informed NPR in an e-mail. “So feeding lions something apart from horse and cow meat would in all probability be a welcome change.”
The Affiliation of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is an accreditation physique for conservation packages in america. It mentioned that its member zoos don’t make use of or endorse the solicitation of pets for meals.
However the Dietary Advisory Group to the AZA highlights the significance of predatory animals nonetheless gaining access to massive and entire animal stays as a part of a balanced weight loss plan.
“Feeding vertebrate animal carcasses to captive carnivores has been a administration instrument utilized by zoos in america for a few years,” the advisory group mentioned in an announcement.
“It encompasses all kinds of prey sorts/type of presentation, from entire physique to portion managed, and has the useful results of stimulating exercise and bettering regular feeding habits,” it mentioned.
The distinction in American and European zoo practices has been highlighted earlier than, notably within the case of Denmark.
In 2015, the nation’s Odense Zoo made worldwide headlines for its determination to kill and publicly dissect a 9-month-old feminine lion in entrance of faculty kids, as a way to regulate the power’s lion inhabitants – a observe the zoo had been carrying on for many years.
A yr earlier than within the capital metropolis of Copenhagen, animal rights activists had been horrified to study {that a} wholesome two-year-old giraffe generally known as Marius had been euthanized and his stays fed to the zoo’s lions. The Copenhagen Zoo mentioned placing Marius down had been essential to keep away from inbreeding amongst its giraffe inhabitants.
