A zoo in Denmark is making waves by permitting individuals to donate their ageing pets and livestock as meals for zoo animals.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
When you’ve got a spare hen or a horse, Aalborg Zoo will take it. In a Fb put up final week, the Danish zoo requested if locals had undesirable small pets or livestock to donate as meals for the zoo’s predators. For sure, this transient report isn’t for everyone. From the Danish capital of Copenhagen, Adrienne Murray has extra.
ADRIENNE MURRAY, BYLINE: The zoo’s name to serve up these animals as fodder has been met with each outcry and bemusement from overseas, and it is acquired a torrent of indignant messages. Chief zoologist Anette Sofie Warncke Nutzhorn instructed native broadcaster TV 2 the media storm had come as a giant shock.
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ANETTE SOFIE WARNCKE NUTZHORN: (Via interpreter) There’s nothing new in it. We have at all times performed it, and we see it as very pure to do it this fashion. And we do not soak up canines and cats.
MURRAY: Among the many carnivores are Asiatic lions, tigers, polar bears and lynx. In Denmark, it is common observe, the zoo stated, supposed to imitate the predator’s prey. The animals are put down first. Nothing goes to waste. And it is higher for his or her diet and well-being, the zoo added.
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THEA LOUMAND FADDERSBOLL: (Via interpreter) So that is our refrigeration room, the place we’ve a horse hanging for defrosting.
MURRAY: Opening a heavy fridge door, zoologist Thea Loumand Faddersboll confirmed native reporters the place the meat is saved.
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FADDERSBOLL: (Via interpreter) This yr, we’ve been so fortunate to get a lynx cub, and so the mom wants a bit extra meals to guarantee that she will be able to assist this cub. Due to this fact, we might wish to feed them with these smaller animals.
MURRAY: It is not the primary time a Danish zoo has stirred controversy. In 2014, the park in Copenhagen brought about uproar when it euthanized after which dissected a giraffe calf. Whereas Aalborg has upset some animal lovers overseas, many Danes do not perceive the fuss. Trine Lauridsen was a customer on the zoo.
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TRINE LAURIDSEN: (Via interpreter) It’s a good suggestion. The opposite animals – they want meals, too. And I believe it is a good factor, if you say goodbye to your animals, that it serves an excellent goal.
MURRAY: For NPR, I am Adrienne Murray in Copenhagen.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ANIMAL INSTINCT”)
THE CRANBERRIES: (Singing) It is the animal.
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