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Tag: zoo animals

  • Copenhagen Zoo Kills Four Lions Following Death Of Giraffe

    In a shocking turn of events, the same zoo that recently killed a giraffe has killed four lions. The zoo, which is located in Denmark, received a large amount of criticism following the death of its giraffe, and will likely see similar treatment after killing lions.

    It is puzzling why a zoo that has been criticized for a similar event recently would do such a thing to a group of lions. The zoo responsible for the recent deaths of the innocent animals is the Copenhagen Zoo, and has received outrage from people worldwide for its recent actions.

    Some people even took to social media to call the zookeepers serial killers and murderers following both incidents, and the giraffe, who had the name of Marius, was only 18 months old. They proceeded to feed the dead giraffe to lions, and the lions that feasted on his remains were among those that were recently killed.

    According to CNN, The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, which is a body governing 345 institutions said that the Copenhagen Zoo had not broken its codes of conduct when killing the four lions, and that it “has been consistent in its approach to animal population management, and high standards of animal welfare.”

    The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria also mentioned that the zoo supports natural cycles of reproduction and cub rearing, but that the lions are not a part of a breeding program. In case anyone is interested in signing, a petition has also been started telling the Copenhagen Zoo to stop killing healthy animals.

    The justification for euthanizing the four lions was that there was a younger lion being brought to the zoo, who they needed to make way for. The zoo has attempted to justify the killings of the two parents, ages 14 and 16, and their cubs, on the grounds of genetic purity and conservation, otherwise the older male may have tried to breed with one of his offspring.

    There was also a risk that the older male could try to breed with one of the females that were his offspring. According to a statement that the Copenhagen Zoo had originally posted on their website, “If the zoo had not made the change in the pride now, then we would have risked that the old male would mate with these two females — his own offspring — and thereby give rise to inbreeding.”

    Due to the recent events at the Copenhagen Zoo, the international image of Danish people has also been tarnished, and many people have been referring to them as the giraffe killers, and now they have killed lions as well, which should only make things worse.

    The zoo claims to have killed the lions to make room for a new lion, and to prevent inbreeding, but some people have argued that they could have simply sent the lions to another zoo, rather than having to kill them. What do you think? Was it justified?

    Image via Youtube

  • Baby Gorilla Reunited with Mother Following Veterinary Care

    REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD!

    An adorable baby gorilla at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park was physically introduced to her mother Monday following medical treatment.

    The 12-day-old baby was born to her mother Imani on March 12 via emergency cesarean section.

    Zoo staff immediately noticed, however, that the baby was having respiratory issues and needed to be admitted for 24-hour veterinary care.

    Associate Director of Veterinary Services Nadine Lamberski said that the medical staff determined it was pneumonia.

    “We’ve been working with the baby all weekend, and after having several days of experience treating her, it’s pretty obvious that we’ve been dealing with pneumonia,”  Lamberski previously told The Washington Post.

    Lamberski told the Associated Press that the baby gorilla recovered fairly well following surgery for a collapsed lung, so the zoo decided to take her back to her mother.

    Located below is the raw footage of the reunion: 

    In the video you can see one of the zookeepers place the baby down in her mother’s cage.

    The 18-year-old mother walks over to her new born and immediately starts to place straw around her in what seems to be an attempt to keep her baby girl warm. 

    Photographers captured precious bonding moments between the two, especially those that showed the baby lying on her mother’s chest.

    After three hours, the gorilla became acquainted with the little one and started to breastfed her baby for the very first time.

    Zoo officials say that the new mom has been holding and carrying her baby since their reunion.

    The San Diego Zoo plans to continuously monitor the baby gorilla’s health as well as make sure she is receiving enough nutrition.

    It’s pretty mind blowing to see how a gorilla interacts with their baby. And, quite frankly, it’s not too different from how human mothers care for their young.

    This remarkable post on Twitter illustrates just how similar baby humans and baby gorillas are in nature:

    Image via YouTube

  • Cleveland Zoo Hippo Killed in Captivity

    Cleveland Zoo Hippo Killed in Captivity

    The Nile hippopotamus is one of the largest land mammals on the planet, behind elephants and white rhinos. Their closest living relatives are dolphins and whales, and they are considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

    The Cleveland Zoo explains: Blackie came to the Zoo from Africa in 1955 when he was about 1 year old. He was born at the Mount Meru Game Sanctuary in Tanzania and brought to Cleveland by Zoo officials and board members who were gathering animals on a safari, which was an acceptable method of acquiring zoo animals prior to the passage of the Endangered Species Act.

    His life at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo seemed pleasant enough, and entertained many visitors, but taking animals from the wild into captivity can be extremely stressful on them when forced to leave family and social connections behind.

    The organization “Born Free” says, “keeping wild animals in captivity is inherently cruel, as it deprives them of the ability to freely engage in instinctual behaviors in their natural environment. Even when bred in captivity, exotic animals retain all of their natural instincts. They cannot be considered domesticated or tamed.”

    “Fortunately for us, he’s a pleasant-natured bull hippo,” said Geoffrey Hall, the zoo’s general curator. “They are considered the most dangerous animals in Africa and kill more humans than lions or other animals do.

    The fact that more people are killed by animals taken into captivity than in the wild could be interpreted as animal objective behavior.

    But for Blackie, the decision about his life was taken from him on Monday when the zoo euthanized (killed) him, claiming it was due to advanced age-related ailments.

    Making that decision to end his long life might be viewed as arrogant because allowing an animal to live out their natural life is respectful and humane. Even though the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo claimed, “He lived a good long life,” communications director Sue Allen told The Plain Dealer. “It was a testament to the care he was given. His needs were really attended to.”

    Blackie’s vital statistics were estimated but not exactly known; zoo officials reported he was about 59, said to be the oldest known hippo to have lived in North America, and weighing approximately 3,700 pounds.

    Whether Blackie would have lived longer – we will never know, nor will his own decision to die be his.

    He was said to have lived a comfortable life, with access to a heated pool designed for the elderly hippo’s probable aches and pains. He was also fed a generous supply of food, which is what experts believe allowed him to outlive the typical age span of hippos – the average life span of hippos is between 30-40 years in the wild.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Red Panda Missing For 7 Hours Found Safe

    Red Panda Missing For 7 Hours Found Safe

    Red panda Rusty, who is fairly new to the Smithsonian National Zoo, escaped early this morning and caused an intensive search, which lasted until almost 2:30 today.

    When Rusty wasn’t found in his cage around 7:30 this morning, an alert was issued within the zoo and a search party formed. He eluded capture until this afternoon, when someone spotted him in a nearby neighborhood, snapped his picture, and alerted zoo officials.

    “We have been searching all morning,” spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson had said earlier. “It is most likely that he has not really left the vicinity. He would have to have some very strong motivation to leave the area.”

    The adorable little guy was never a harm to anyone while he was out, but zoo authorities say they are looking into how he escaped and are wondering if the fact that he hasn’t had much of an appetite in recent days may have led to his escape. He’s only been at the zoo since late April and is a new part of their exhibit after transferring from a zoo in Lincoln, Nebraska. It’s possible the little guy is homesick.

    The zoo used Twitter to help them in their search, which saw a tweet featuring a photo of Rusty retweeted over 3,000 times.