If this was a duck or a fish or mole or some other less exotic creature there would be none of this outrage - and I'm certain that this sort of thing is quite commonplace when it comes to those 'lesser' species kept in zoos and other wildlife facilities.
I don't understand why it matters if kids see it. Why is that so horrible? Death is part of living. Pain is part of living. It is a near absolute certainty that almost every person alive will go through pain of one sort or another as part of living. It is a virtual certainty that we will all eventually die. These are the facts. Whether we like them or not is of infinite unimportance. Faced with these facts, there is the option to just stick our heads in the sand and try not to think about it and try to raise children protected from any knowledge of how the world works - thereby making it certain that they will be traumatized when something bad finally does happen because they have been 'protected' from anything bad all their lives. Or, there is the option to make sure they know that death and pain are part of the process of life, and that they can both deal with these and pick themselves up, shake it off, and move on with their lives. To not make a child aware that death and pain are a part of life is to create a stunted human being who will be handicapped in their ability to live. This is not a service in any way. As far as the animal here - I very much doubt that the zookeepers or whomever were high-fiving each other over the necessity to do this. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done and you might as well make best use of the opportunity. Which it sounds like they did. Todd
You don't let kids watch this stuff. I don't care how removed from society you are, you don't fucking show kids something like this, when there older fine, but there kids.
People need to make their mind up why they're outraged by this story. I've worked at a zoo and this isn't surprising at all. A zoo is a business and the animals are treated like products which must adhere to a very strict set of rules. Their treatment, at times, seems to be cruel, and I know firsthand that some animals are terrified of zookeepers. Carrying out the autopsy is making the best of an unfortunate situation. It's the parents' responsibility whether their kid watches it or not. If you're going to protest against zoos, make it something that happens regularly and universally rather than an isolated incident which will probably not repeat itself for a long time. Many animals get put down very often for many reasons, it's not newsworthy.
Why not? Why does it matter in any way? How does it in any way harm them? If we're going to jump on the 'children should not be allowed to see/experience/know about' bandwagon, then lets prevent them from watching the news, playing a whole batch of video games, watching various movies...and participating in forums like EC where discussions of sex and relationships are often quite explicit and where many people (you know who I mean) would argue a destructive and dysfunctional lifestyle is being supported and promoted. So where do we draw the line on what kids 'should' and 'shouldn't' see? Mainly this is expected to be handled by the parents - and these parents made that choice. So what's the problem, specifically? I'm not sure what you mean by 'removed from society'. Animals are killed and butchered as part of 'society' all the time. Or where do you think that burger you're eating comes from? Ok, in this instance the animal in question is rather exotic to most of the people here, and perhaps rather 'cute' to some. But why should that matter? Todd
...So the kids got to watch an autopsy? Cool. People worship nature as some sort of wonderful and magical thing. It really isn't. Nature is a brutal, dog-eat-dog world, and most animals live in fear of getting eaten by predators. That giraffe had it easy... In fact, preventing inbreeding now will prevent genetic problems in the future. "Kids shouldn't be watching this!" Absurd. Maturity depends on the individual, not their age. Stop trying to be a moral guardian. Many people don't care about animals that they don't perceive to be "cute" or "exotic", and that's a terrible double standard. Focus on that.
W...T...F. I would be more comfortable with them neutering the giraffe instead of killing him! And if neutering is out of the question, then how hard is it to put up a fence around this one giraffe so that he doesn't procreate? Even putting him in an all male giraffe area will solve that problem.
Thank you for typing this, it helped save me some time. I think this is possibly much more shocking to people who grew up in cities away from nature and from the killing of animals. I know many kids who grew up helping butcher chickens, castrate cattle, or slaughter pigs, and it gives them a perspective of life that most people are seeming to lack. There must be a respect not only for the individual life, but for the life of the group. Personally if culling is in the benefit of the group and there are laws prohibiting other means of removal, I would view it cruel NOT to cull the organism.
I like how they added the "It would be inhumane to neuter the giraffe" But I guess killing him wasn't? Does anyone else find that failed logic?
Considering the giraffe's death was painless and the neuter would have cause it to suffer, it was a lot more humane to kill it.
I think that depends on who you ask really. Personally I don't blame them. I really don't even care all that much. Especially because I imagine watching a giraffe autopsy was probably phenominal, but I can't see the reasoning behind 'killing over neutering' I mean take the same concept and apply it to a human "I was gonna neuter Ted, but then I though...meh it'd be more humane to just kill him"
My issue is that multiple zoos expressed interest in giving the giraffe a home, but instead they said no and decided to do this.
I live in Denmark, and have become really tired of the ridiculousness of this entire thing. Firstly, no the zoo could not give away the giraffe, it's against zoo rules. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYeT6ZCP2Wo And secondly, on the whole thing with the giraffe being cut up in front of children, it was done for educational purposes, so the children could learn about anatomy, where their food comes from and how animals eat other animals. In Denmark we don't view giraffes as "special" compared to cows and chickens and we don't think we should shelter children from reality, and pretend that death doesn't exist. You know most children who grow up on a farm have seen animals be slaughter before school age, right? And on a personal note it seriously annoys me that people care so much for a giraffe that "was killed for being surplus", what do you think they do in the meat and dairy industry, everyday? At least the giraffe was fed to the lions. Also thank you Sarcastic Luck for bringing some actual insight.
@ Lovely ahh! What a cute kitty! And it's surprisingly appropriate of a gif for this topic. I feel like this shouldn't be a huge deal. Yes, it wasn't necessary to kill him, and I disapprove of how small children were allowed to watch the autopsy being performed, but he was used for science, and then the remains disposed of in a natural manner. Lions don't typically hunt giraffes- it's not each to go for a killing bite at the throat when they're so tall- but they take what they can get in nature when the opportunity arises. "This, kids, is what happens in nature. Animals eat other animals." I can imagine an official saying. It's not like the zoo was selling pieces of Marius as souvenirs or holding a giraffe barbecue. We're too sensitive to the plight of a single giraffe. He isn't the last of his species. Copenhagen Zoo is not embarking on a giraffe genocide; it's planning ahead. They were doing it to reduce inbreeding and thus the minimize chances of a large population of future giraffes being susceptible to various genetic or transmittable diseases.
In the end, people weren't really forced to watch this, since they were invited. It would be a different story if they just did it randomly during the main zoo exhibition. Because you know, not everyone wants to watch that stuff. My regards go to the giraffe though. The world really sucks sometimes. @Lovely: Adorable kitty~ ^_^
