Outrage after German zoo shoots baboons, feeds them to predators during cull
The cull happened at Tiergarten Nürnberg zoo in Nuremberg on Tuesday, one day after the zoo said it would begin preparations to kill the animals.
The zoo had previously announced in February 2024 that it was planning to cull some of the animals due to overcrowding, reports the BBC. At the time, they said the facility's capacity for about 25 primates was far surpassed, with its baboon population ballooning to 40. At the time of their deaths, the zoo reported the baboon population had swelled to 43.
Conflict between the animals had become 'more frequent' in the enclosure due to an excess of animals, which led to baboons sustaining injuries, officials told DW News.
Story continues below advertisement
In a post to social media, the zoo claimed they had tried to move some of the animals to other zoos that had taken in their animals in the past, including zoos in Paris and China, but those facilities were at capacity, too.
They also said contraceptive measures given to the baboons had failed, giving them no other option than to euthanize some of their animals, reports The Associated Press.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
On Tuesday morning, the zoo announced it was closing for the day for unspecified 'operational reasons.'
That afternoon, police said seven activists climbed over a wall into the zoo, and one woman glued her hands to the ground. The group was detained a few metres inside the entrance.
Story continues below advertisement
View image in full screen
Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion are arrested by the police after entering the grounds of Nuremberg Zoo. Daniel Löb / Picture Alliance via Getty Images
The activists' disruption did not stop the cull from going ahead. The zoo's deputy director, Jörg Beckmann, confirmed that 12 baboons were chosen and shot. He said none of the selected animals were pregnant females or part of studies.
The Associated Press reports that samples from the dead animals were taken and that the baboons' bodies will be offered up as food to other predators in the zoo.
View image in full screen
Dag Encke, director of the Nuremberg Zoo, speaks during a press conference after the Nuremberg Zoo killed 12 baboons. Daniel Karmann / Picture Alliance via Getty Images
Zoo director Dag Encke told a news conference that the killings followed 'years-long consideration.' He argued that they had become necessary to maintain a healthy population because having a group that had outgrown its accommodation and couldn't be reduced by other means was pushing the zoo into conflict with animal protection laws.
Story continues below advertisement
Animal right groups are incensed by the cull. At least one has threatened to sue the zoo.
'What we feared would happen, has,' Pro Wildlife told DW News, saying it had filed a criminal complaint against the zoo for violating animal protection laws. 'Healthy animals had to be killed because the zoo maintained irresponsible and unsustainable breeding policies for decades.'
'This culling was avoidable and illegal in our opinion,' said the group.
'Animal welfare laws permits the killing of vertebrates only if there is a reasonable cause,' Christoph Maisack, who heads the German Legal Association for Animal Protection Law (DJGT), told the outlet, adding, 'Letting them breed too freely cannot constitute such a reason.'
Animals are regularly euthanized in European zoos for a variety of reasons. Some past cases have caused an outcry; in 2014, the Copenhagen Zoo killed a healthy two-year-old giraffe named Marius, live-streamed the butchering of its carcass in front of a crowd that included children, and then fed it to lions.
Story continues below advertisement
— With a file from The Associated Press
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
A half-million young Catholics invade Rome, awaiting Pope Leo XIV at Holy Year youth festival
Published Aug 02, 2025 • 4 minute read Youth and pilgrims gather in Rome's eastern Tor Vergata neighbourhood for a prayer vigil led by the Pope before Sunday's Mass as part of the Jubilee of Youth, on Aug. 2, 2025. Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / AFP via Getty Images ROME — Hundreds of thousands of young Catholics poured into a vast field on Rome's outskirts Saturday for the weekend highlight of the Vatican's 2025 Holy Year: an evening vigil, outdoor slumber party and morning Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV that marks his first big encounter with the next generation of Catholics. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Misting trucks and water cannons spritzed the young people to try to keep them cool, as temperatures neared 30C (85F) with hours to go before Leo arrived for the vigil. But the mood was festive, with young people dancing to a lineup of a dozen different bands or lying on their tarps where they had set up camp for the night. 'It is something spiritual, that you can experience only every 25 years,' said Francisco Michel, a pilgrim from Mexico. 'As a young person, having the chance to live this meting with the pope I feel it is a spiritual growth.' For the past week, these bands of young Catholics from around the world have invaded Rome for their special Jubilee celebration, in this Holy Year in which 32 million people are expected to descend on the Vatican to participate in a centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The young people have been traipsing through cobblestoned streets in color-coordinated t-shirts, praying the Rosary and singing hymns with guitars, bongo drums and tambourines shimmying alongside. Using their flags as tarps to shield them from the sun, they have taken over entire piazzas for Christian rock concerts and inspirational talks, and stood for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to 1,000 priests offering the sacrament in a dozen different languages. On Saturday, they began arriving at the Tor Vergata field on the eastern flank of Rome for the culmination of their Jubilee celebration — the encounter with Leo. History's first first American pope was flying in by helicopter Saturday evening to preside over the vigil. He was then returning to the Vatican for the night and coming back for a popemobile romp and Mass on Sunday morning. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It all has the vibe of a World Youth Day, the Catholic Woodstock festival that St. John Paul II inaugurated and made famous in 2000 in Rome at the very same Tor Vergata field. Then, before an estimated 2 million people, John Paul told the young pilgrims they were the 'sentinels of the morning' at the dawn of the third millennium. Officials had initially expected 500,000 youngsters this weekend, but Leo hinted the number might reach 1 million. 'It's a bit messed up, but this is what is nice about the Jubilee,' said Chloe Jobbour, a 19-year-old Lebanese Catholic who was in Rome with a group of more than 200 young members of the Community of the Beatitudes, a France-based charismatic group. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. She said, for example, it had taken two hours to get dinner Friday night, as the KFC was overwhelmed by orders. The Salesian school that offered her group housing is an hour away by bus. But Jobbour, like many here this week, didn't mind the discomfort: It's all part of the experience. 'I don't expect it to be better than that. I expected it this way,' she said, as members of her group gathered on church steps near the Vatican to sing and pray Saturday morning before heading out to Tor Vergata. There was one tragedy before the vigil began: The Vatican confirmed that an Egyptian 18-year-old, identified as Pascale Rafic, had died while on the pilgrimage. Leo met Saturday with the group she was traveling with and extended his condolences to her family. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The weather has largely cooperated: While Italian civil protection crews had prepared for temperatures that could have reached 34C (93F) or higher this week, the mercury hasn't surpassed 30C (85F) and isn't expected to. Romans inconvenienced, but tolerant Those Romans who didn't flee the onslaught have been inconvenienced by the additional hordes on the city's notoriously insufficient public transport system. Residents are sharing social media posts of outbursts by Romans at kids flooding subway platforms and crowding bus stops that have complicated their commutes to work. But other Romans have welcomed the enthusiasm the youngsters have brought. Premier Giorgia Meloni offered a video welcome, marveling at the 'extraordinary festival of faith, joy and hope' that the young people had created. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I think it's marvelous,' said Rome hairdresser Rina Verdone, who lives near the Tor Vergata field and woke up Saturday to find a gaggle of police congregating outside her home as part of the massive, 4,000-strong operation mounted to keep the peace. 'You think the faith, the religion is in difficulty, but this is proof that it's not so.' Verdone had already made plans to take an alternate route home Saturday afternoon, that would require an extra kilometre (half-mile) walk, because she feared the 'invasion' of kids in her neighbourhood would disrupt her usual bus route. But she said she was more than happy to make the sacrifice. 'You think of invasion as something negative. But this is a positive invasion,' she said. — AP reporter Paolo Santalucia contributed to this story. Toronto Blue Jays Columnists Columnists Toronto & GTA Canada
Toronto Sun
7 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
DEAR ABBY: Move closer to family creates distance instead
A grandparent is regretting moving to be closer to their grandchildren. Photo by stock photo / Getty Images Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. DEAR ABBY: I made a terrible mistake moving 2,000 miles across the country to be closer to my grandchildren. In the past, I have always noticed my son and daughter-in-law treated the other grandparents better. They roll out the red carpet for my daughter-in-law's parents. They arrange outings with them, take photos and post the special grandchild-grandparent moments on Facebook. No one takes photos of me doing the same things with the grandchildren. It is also hard to do things with them because my daughter-in-law is always rushing them to do something else. It's like she wants her parents to be the only ones who have a special relationship with the grandkids. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account I feel sick to my stomach every day. In the past, I couldn't take off work to travel for visits like the other grandparents, so I missed out on a lot. I thought by moving here I would stop feeling like an outsider with my grandchildren. I am single and still working, and although this was a major disruption to my life, it was a sacrifice I thought was worth making for the joy of being a more involved grandparent. But not much has changed. What do you think? — OUTSIDER IN TENNESSEE DEAR OUTSIDER: That queasy feeling you describe may be anxiety. This is something you should discuss with your son. Before I render any judgments, it would have been helpful to know if you discussed your 'possible' move to Tennessee with him and his wife to see how they felt about it. Or did you simply announce you were coming? If they welcomed the idea but haven't included you, shame on them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Family counselling might help smooth things out if they are willing. If they aren't , and you aren't able to forge the kind of relationship you want with your grandchildren, consider making another move — somewhere where you are wanted and not so isolated. RECOMMENDED VIDEO DEAR ABBY: Sometimes, when I offer sympathy to someone about a difficult situation they are experiencing by saying, 'I'm sorry,' that person will respond by saying, 'It's not your fault,' or 'No need to apologize.' It happened again today. The definition of 'sorry' is 'an expression of sorrow or regret.' It's not necessarily an apology. When people respond this way, I find it awkward, embarrassing and even belittling. Please ask your readers to take the expression as it is intended. It's usually obvious whether the person speaking is apologizing or expressing sympathy for your situation. — APOLOGIZING IN THE WEST DEAR APOLOGIZING : People, in general, have their personal pet peeves. Although this response is yours, I doubt many people will stop doing it because of one letter in my column. The next time it happens, TELL the person you weren't apologizing , simply expressing sympathy. If you say it with a smile, the person is less likely to be offended. Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069. Toronto Blue Jays Canada MLB World Toronto & GTA
Global News
a day ago
- Global News
1 dead, 2 injured after small plane crashes near Ottawa airport
Ottawa paramedics say a man has died after the small plane he was piloting crashed into trees near the city's airport on Thursday. Emergency crews responded to a wooded area near Riverside Drive and Hunt Club Road shortly before 6 p.m. after receiving reports of the small plane crash. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Superintendent Marc-Antoine Deschamps said first responders worked together to extricate the three occupants from the plane. Deschamps said the pilot, an adult male, was pronounced dead at the scene. A man and woman were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it was investigating and that the plane was a privately registered Grumman AA-5A. The Ottawa International Airport Authority said the airport fire department responded to the crash site, working with city firefighters, but airport operations were not affected.
