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Tag: Lions

  • Copenhagen Zoo Kills Four Healthy Lions

    A Copenhagen zoo is receiving criticism from the public after euthanizing four healthy lions. The zoo said that it plans on introducing a new male lion to the pride and chose to euthanize the lions because they were either too young or too old to defend themselves from the new lion and would have been killed.

    “Because of the pride of lions’ natural structure and behavior, the zoo has had to euthanize the two old lions and two young lions that were not old enough to fend for themselves,” Copenhagen Zoo said in a statement.

    The zoo claimed that they first tried to find a home for the lions but were unable to do so. The lions were euthanized on Monday.

    Just last month, the same zoo euthanized a healthy giraffe to prevent inbreeding. Not only was the animal euthanized, but also publicly dissected and then fed to the lions. Although the zoo received a huge public backlash over the incident, it has clearly not dissuaded them from euthanizing other healthy animals.

    “Marius hasn’t made us the least bit afraid, because what we are doing is the most correct thing to do,” Steffen Stræde, the zoo’s chief said in an interview.

    The zoo reportedly euthanizes between 20 and 30 animals each year for various reasons, but does not dissect them all publicly. In the United States, zoos use contraceptive methods to prevent animals from inbreeding and often trade animals to avoid overpopulation and resolve behavior issues.

    There are no laws that say the Copenhagen zoo cannot euthanize the animals if they feel that they need to and they will likely continue to do so in the future, regardless of how the public feels about it.

    Do you think the zoo should be allowed to euthanize healthy animals?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Zoo Kills Lions in Copenhagen, Causes Outcry Over Twitter

    The Copenhagen Zoo has killed four lions in preparation of the arrival of a new male lion after it failed to find them new homes. The lions, two cubs and their parents, were the same ones that fed on a giraffe they put down last month. NBC news reported the zoo received death threats over the public killing, skinning, and disposal of the giraffe. “The children of the staff of Copenhagen Zoo should all be killed or should get cancer,” one read. The zoo posted photos of the event on their website.

    “Because of the pride of lions’ natural structure and behaviour, the zoo has had to euthanise the two old lions and two young lions who were not old enough to fend for themselves,” the zoo said in a statement to the BBC, adding that the male cubs “would have been killed by the new male lion as soon as he got the chance.”

    Twitter exploded with outcry over the move:

    Care2 Petition Site has a new petition stating “the ongoing policy of killing healthy animals in their care is not acceptable and that it is time to review and change their breeding policies and procedures, to allow for the accommodation of healthy animals for as long as they require care.” It currently has 558 signatures of 1,000.

    Image via ScottishFilmMakers, YouTube

  • NFL Coaches Fired – On Black Monday

    This Black Monday is gonna hurt, and experts claim this axe isn’t coming up for air anytime soon.

    During the regular season, at least four head coaches were fired, on what is becoming known as Black Monday in the NFL world.

    All because these teams were out of playoff picture?

    The Redskins, Mike Shanahan is no longer head coach. The Vikings fired Leslie Frazier, Greg Schiano of the Buccaneers was also fired, and last but not least – Jim Schwartz with the Lions isn’t coming back to that team anytime soon.

    Their teams did pretty badly this season, the Skins were at 3-13, Vikings finished 5-10-1 and the Bucs at 4-12 all last in their divisions. Schwartz’s Lions were among the best of the worst at 7-9.

    The other firing announcements came 24 hours after the Cleveland Browns fired head coach Rob Chudzinski just after his team closed out the 2013 season with a seven-game losing streak to finish 4-12.

    Shanahan was 24-20 in four seasons as coach of the Redskins, but his future was shot with the team’s performance – adding to that, his questionable relationship with quarterback Robert Griffin III.

    “Redskins fans deserve a better result,” owner Dan Snyder said in a statement.

    The Redskins started the season hopeful, with a 2012 record of 10-6, and the NFC East title.

    The Vikings, however, fired Frazier after his team went 21-32-1 in three-plus seasons. Minnesota did make it to the playoffs last season, so there was hope there too.

    “Unfortunately, we did not achieve consistent success and did not achieve the progress we expected,” Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman said in a statement.

    Schiano’s Bucs had two mediocre seasons.

    “The results over the past two years have not lived up to our standards and we believe the time has come to find a new direction,” said Buccaneers co-chairman Bryan Glazer.

    Detroit fired Schwartz after a late-season fade that cost the Lions a play-off berth as they lost their final four games.

    Schwartz was 29-51 in five seasons with the Lions. They had one winning season, going 10-6 in 2011.

    “I think it’s a cut-and-dry wins and losses business,” said Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who added that the players had to accept “quite a bit” of responsibility for the team’s mediocre season.

    Chudzinski, unfortunately lasted only one season with the Browns even though he has three years remaining on his contract.

    So the NFL does realize that not all football teams can win, someone has to lose – wonder if the teams’ owners feel better.

    Image via YouTube

  • Lion Tacos Pulled After Restaurant Generates Controversy

    There was a time when you could go into a restaurant in Tampa and get yourself some lion meat tacos. Those days are now behind us. Taco Fusion has reportedly pulled lion from the menu after causing a media stir.

    “There’s nothing like eating a predator to make you feel like a predator,” said one patron in the above Fox News report.

    “They’re surprisingly tasty,” another said about lions.

    Surprisingly, nobody said, “It’s like eating a cat, because that’s what it is.”

    As you can see from the video, otter and beaver were also on the menu. It’s unclear whether they’re still serving these meats, but here’s a page from their online menu, which indicates you should still have no problem getting a kangaroo taco:

    (image)

    Also, they deliver.

  • Lion Kills Heron in Zoo Incident Caught on Film

    Anyone who has ever been to a zoo knows that they are usually pretty docile places. The animals, being animals, mostly lounge around all day.

    This is especially true for big cats, which don’t seem to have temperaments much different from the house cats all of us on the internet are so familiar with. However, big cats still possess their hunting instincts, and an unfortunate heron took this fact for granted at an Amsterdam zoo recently.

    The incident was caught on video by zoo-goers. It shows the heron innocently striding along the water in the Lion enclosure before a lioness takes notice. The heron gets only a spit-second to try and fly away before the lioness takes him down. A very excited younger lion then tries to get in on the action, taking the dying bird away and promptly losing it.

    If you’ve ever wondered how your cat catches those birds it leaves on you doorstep, the video below is a good approximation.

    If that video hasn’t sated your thirst for zoo animals, you can also check out the video of drunken monkeys that National Geographic uploaded this week.