Marius

Giraffes at Copenhagen Zoo
Species	Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata
Sex	Male
Born	2012 Copenhagen
Died	(2014-02-09)February 9, 2014 (aged 18 months)
Nation from	Denmark
Known for	Controversial culling at young age
Owner	Copenhagen Zoo

Marius was an 18-month-old male giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo. Though healthy, he was considered genetically unsuitable for future breeding, so the zoo decided that he should be culled. Despite several offers to adopt Marius, and an online petition to save the giraffe, ^[1] he was put to death with a captive bolt gun on February 9, 2014. The giraffe was then dissected in public and some body parts were fed to lions. The culling and public dissection received worldwide media coverage, and generated responses from several organisations and individuals, including death threats to staff at the zoo.^[2]

Marius, as he was called by keepers,^[3] was born in 2012 at Copenhagen Zoo, where he stayed until the end of his life. According to the Dutch Zoo Federation it was hoped that the giraffe would be a cow, as there was a place for one in other zoos, but Marius was a bull. Shortly after Marius's birth, Copenhagen Zoo informed the coordinator of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) for giraffes who, according to the Dutch Zoo Federation tried to find with his committee a suitable location for Marius but failed.^{[citation needed]} What, if any, efforts were made is unknown.

An assessment of Marius's pedigree line indicated that his genes were too inferior for him to be selected for future breeding. As the Zoo was unable to find a suitable place for the giraffe, and considered sterilization as a loss of "space for more genetically valuable giraffes",^[4] he was eventually put down.

It was attempted to move Marius to a different place, but all offers were declined as not matching with requirements of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). As an EAZA member, the Copenhagen zoo does not own its animals, but governs them.^[5] The zoo is also not allowed to sell animals,^[5][6] and the placement of animals outside of the EEP is limited to those that follow the same set of rules as EAZA.^[5] The following offers were declined.

An offer by EAZA member Yorkshire Wildlife Park to adopt Marius in a bachelor herd in its giraffe house was declined, and a last minute plea from the park management to allow Marius to live was ignored.^[7][8] According to Bengt Holst the Wildlife Park's space would better used by a "genetically more valuable giraffe" than Marius, whose brother lived there.^[9] Also declined were offers from two non-EAZA members, the Dutch Landgoed Hoenderdaell wildlife park^[10][11] and a zoo in northern Sweden^[9] and an offer by an individual.^[9]

Following the recommendations of the EAZA the zoo decided to put down the giraffe.^[12] The Copenhagen Zoo stated explained in a statement that:

As this giraffe's genes are well represented in the breeding programme and as there is no place for the giraffe in the Zoo's giraffe herd the European Breeding Programme for Giraffes has agreed that Copenhagen Zoo euthanize the giraffe.^[6]

On 9 February 2014 the giraffe was put to death with a captive bolt gun.^[6]

After being culled, Marius was publicly dissected. This was done in a separate area of the zoo, away from passing crowds, but accessible to those interested in the dissection.^[13] Parts of the giraffe's body were fed to the zoo's lion population. Images of the carcass being cut up and fed to lions in front of the crowds were circulated by various media associations. Bro has been quoted as saying during a telephone interview "I'm actually proud because I think we have given children a huge understanding of the anatomy of a giraffe that they wouldn't have had from watching a giraffe in a photo"^[14][9] According to Bengt Holst, public dissections of deceased animals fits with the zoo's policy to educate people on nature and wildlife,^[15] and is a tradition in Denmark.^[3] He also said that dissections are carried out in natural conservation areas.^[3]

Members of the public started an international online petition directed at the Copenhagen Zoo to save the giraffe.^[1] Upon its closure shortly after the culling, the petition collected over 27,000 signatures. After the culling, a petition was directed at Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt calling for the closure of the Zoo,^[16] which collected at February 15 over 120,000 signatures. Another petition called for the resignation of the scientific director of the zoo, Bengt Holst, which collected at 15 February over 70,000 signatures.^[17]

Copenhagen Zoo managers confirmed that staff, including its head of conservation, received death threats by phone and email since the culling of Marius.^[18] Conversely, social media such as Facebook spawned several Danish "pages" carrying images of Marius's corpse, and deriding those who defended Marius's right to live, often in violent terms. The Mail article "Who's afraid of the big dead wolf?"^[19] showing young Danish children at a wildlife facility being shown a dissection of a wolf, brought questions and expressions of distaste from readers regarding an apparent Danish national predeliction for treating wildlife sanctuaries as laboratories, and exposing children to dissected animals rather than living ones.

Concerns were raised by Psychology Today regarding the precise educational benefit to children of attending the public dissection of an animal which they had previously petted. An article "What we Learned From Marius"^[20] expressed outrage and distaste, and insisted that the children would only learn that killing animals for entertainment was legitimate.

A two-minute video of the last moments of Marius,^[21] showing the young giraffe engaging with the camera and other giraffes, drew almost four thousand views in it's first three days. Several videos appeared in which Bengt Holst tried to defend his actions^[22] which drew comments from Marius's supporters expressing dismay and revulsion at images of young children attending a public dissection. Some of Holst's statements, such as "I will do it again, because children need to learn about the world" and "this was an opportunity to see the inside of a giraffe" and insistance that the children had asked to watch the dissection, despite videos apparently showing children expressing shock and distress,^[23] only fuelled public outrage, bringing accusations of mental illness from viewers against Holst.

Bengt Holst, scientific director at the Danish zoo, said that the amount of international interest had come as a surprise to the zoo, but also stressed the importance of a policy of openness.^[3] He defended the killing of the young bull based on culling for artificial selection. He said that giraffes at the zoo breed very well and where this was the case, giraffes had to be selected to ensure the best genes were passed down to ensure the animals' long-term survival. He confirmed the zoo typically culls 20 to 30 animals every year.^[10]

EAZA issued a press release "fully supporting" the decisions and policy of the Copenhagen Zoo.^[24]

Tina Engberg, a spokesperson from the Danish animal protection organization, Dyrenes Beskyttelse, said that the organization trusts the decisions made by Copenhagen Zoo. She raised the issue of the large number of authorized killings of animals in society, in general, such as piglets and stags.^[25]

The culling has been criticized by Stine Jensen, from Denmark's Organisation Against the Suffering of Animals, who repudiated the action as unethical. She said,

This situation should not have occurred at all. It just shows that the zoo is in fact not the ethical institution that it wants to portray itself as being, because here you have a waste product - that being Marius. Here we have a zoo which thinks that putting this giraffe down instead of thinking of alternatives is the best option.^[10]

The Executive Director of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) issued the following statement in response to the public concerns raised by the euthanasia of Marius.

Zoos and aquariums in North America that are accredited by the AZA have a number of ways that they manage animal populations. Through the AZA Species Survival Plan® program, these methods include science based breeding recommendations and cooperating to plan for adequate space. AZA’s Wildlife Contraception Center and AZA’s Population Management Center help AZA members with the expertise and planning to manage animal populations. The Copenhagen Zoo is well known for the quality of its conservation programs. The facility is a member of EAZA, and their programs and procedures vary from those of the AZA.^[26]

The Born Free Foundation called for,

a review and amendment to EAZA euthanasia policies, to ensure healthy animals who can be relocated are not killed, and for increased transparency in zoos across Europe, with accurate recording and publication of the numbers of healthy animals that are destroyed in each licensed zoo in the region.^[27]

Dublin Zoo, an EAZA member, condemned the culling, calling it "cold, calculated, cynical and callous".^[28]

Moscow Zoo, an EAZA member, condemned the culling stating that it did not support euthanasia policies and instead worked with sterilization. It also expressed concerns about the events being potentially harmful to attending children.^[29][30]

Krakow Zoo, also an EAZA member, offered through Józef Skotnicki, the main director, adoption of Marius but EAZA refused without giving reasons. Skotnicki expressed deep disappointment with the EAZA attitude and ewith method of killing Marius.^[31]

Jack Hanna (Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium) criticized the zoo's actions to cull Marius, calling it "Abominable. Insensitive. Grotesque. [1] .^[32] He stated that the cull would never have occurred in America.^[33]

Robert Young (Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Salford, Manchester) wrote that the case illustrated cultural and institutional differences in how zoos weigh aspects of the animals' quality of life. He discussed how some zoos may favour sterilization and increased longevity. Copenhagen zoo, however, favours non-sterilization, less constraints on breeding and full periods of parenthood, but at the risk of shorter lives for the off-spring.^[34][35]

Since records began approximately a century ago, five giraffes have been culled for similar "conservation management reasons". This is out of a captive population in Europe that in 2014 stands at 798 giraffes.^[18] Since 2012, two other young giraffe bulls in the EEP have been euthanized.^[36]

Keeping animals in European zoos is regulated by EU Council Directive 1999/22/EC. This makes no provision for the slaughter or public dissection of healthy, non-aggressive conservation animals.^[37][38]

• Conservation (ethic)
• Culling in zoos