Latest news with #NurembergZoo
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- South China Morning Post
German zoo sees no ‘flaw' in baboon killing, says future culls possible
A German zoo embroiled in a scandal over killing healthy baboons due to a lack of space has said other animals could be next. Dag Encke, the director of Nuremberg Zoo in southern Germany, told the local Nürnberger Zeitung and Nürnberger Nachrichten newspapers that crowned lemurs, lemurs and gorillas could also be culled in the near future – although killing a gorilla has not yet been seriously considered, he said. 'We would not be able to do that emotionally – even if it is unprofessional and inconsistent,' he said in comments published by the newspapers on Friday. The zoo came under fire in late July for killing 12 healthy baboons due to space constraints. Animal rights activists slammed the move and Encke received numerous death threats. More than 350 complaints were filed with the public prosecutor's office. 'Species protection by killing is for the ass' is written on the poster of a participant in a July protest against the planned killing of baboons in the Nuremberg Zoo. Photo: dpa However, Encke has continued to defend the decision. The biologist told the newspapers that the culling was inevitable, citing reproduction rates, the legal and ethical limits of birth control, and the small number of baboon buyers.
DW
04-08-2025
- Health
- DW
Germany: Baboons fed to lions and tigers after zoo culling – DW – 08/04/2025
Nuremberg Zoo killed 12 baboons due to overcrowding and dismembered six of them before feeding them to predators — removing heads, hands, and feet. The move has triggered widespread upset and legal complaints. Nuremberg Zoo has confirmed that baboons killed to keep down numbers were fed to predators, amid public criticism after it was revealed the animals had been dismembered after death. News of the culling sparked complaints from animal groups over zoo ethics, animal welfare, and culling practices, with the animals decapitated and some having their hands and feet removed. Deputy zoo director Jörg Beckmann told the DPA news agency that the skulls and brains from the bodies were separated for scientific purposes. Six of the 12 Guinea baboons, which were culled due to overcrowding, were then fed to lions, tigers, maned wolves and marbled polecats. Hands and feet were removed "out of respect for visitors" who would see the carnivores feeding, Beckmann said. Skeletons of four baboons are being prepared for museum display, the zoo said. Two baboons died during sedation and were sent for pathology rather than being used as feed. Beckmann said the zoo had openly communicated in advance that the baboons would be used as food. "We continue to be transparent and stand by that decision," he said. He explained that whole-animal feeding provides crucial dental health benefits for carnivores, as bones and fur help prevent tartar buildup, unlike processed food. "Unlike many pets, our animals don't need tartar removal under general anesthesia." He also emphasized the behavioral benefits of such feeding practices, which mimic natural hunting conditions. "Evolution equipped them with claws and teeth for this. There's no nature documentary about big predators where they don't spectacularly hunt or feed on a carcass." The zoo had said the baboons were killed because the enclosure was chronically overcrowded and no longer met welfare standards. Attempts to rehome the animals failed, and contraceptive measures for the females had not worked as hoped. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In a statement last week, the zoo said it acknowledged the emotional impact of the move, saying it understood that many people are "confused, affected, or angry." The zoo explained that the group had grown to more than 40 animals—far exceeding the enclosure's intended capacity of 25 adult baboons. Animal welfare groups reacted strongly. The Nuremberg-Fürth public prosecutor's office confirmed it had received hundreds of criminal complaints over the allegedly unlawful killings and is now reviewing the case. The activist group Animal Rebellion began setting up a protest camp near the zoo on Monday. The camp is expected to remain until the following Monday, with organizers demanding an immediate halt to further killings and an end to breeding programs. In a statement, the zoo said: "Every protest that remains peaceful is acceptable to us." Why did the zoo says the baboon cull was necessary? Nuremberg Zoo said the culling was a last resort after years of trying to control the baboon population through non-lethal means, with contraception having only a limited effect and disrupting natural group dynamics. Despite outreach to many institutions, no suitable home was found for the surplus animals. Expanding the facility again wasn't feasible due to space and funding priorities. The zoo said it could not stop breeding entirely without undermining its long-term conservation role, which requires maintaining healthy, reproducing populations.
Times
04-08-2025
- Times
‘Baboon massacre': German zoo feeds culled primates to the lions
After shooting dead 12 Guinea baboons last Tuesday to alleviate overcrowding, Nuremberg Zoo faces fresh controversy as visitors were shocked to see the primates' carcasses being fed to the lions. Local media reported that the headless, limbless cadavers were served to the big cats in full view of the public. 'They were presented like on a butcher's bench, it was really awful,' one female visitor told the Nürnberger Nachrichten. The zoo's management said the feeding times were clearly signposted and visitors could have avoided them. The heads had been removed so that the brains could be examined for research purposes. More than 300 complaints have been lodged against the cull, which the zoo insisted was inevitable, after it had spent years trying and failing to find alternative accommodation for the primates and to control their population through contraception. Animal rights campaigners claimed the zoo had violated the Animal Welfare Act by culling the nine adult female and three adult male baboons without good reason. The zoo said that the cull, in which the animals were anaesthetised and then shot, was agreed after consulting veterinary and environmental authorities, as well as the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. In recent weeks protesters had chained themselves to the primate enclosure and stuck themselves to the ground outside the zoo. About 250 people marched through the city in July demonstrating against the culling. Some campaigners say they are planning to set up a protest camp outside the zoo. 'Our impression is that the baboon massacre is intended to set a precedent in order to make killing socially acceptable and extend it to other animal species. We must not allow this to happen,' the animal rights group Peta said. The zoo insisted that the reduction in the size of the group was unavoidable because the 43 baboons had far exceeded the enclosure's capacity of 25. The overcrowding had led to conflicts between inmates, leaving several injured. • How the killing of one cantankerous catfish is dividing Germany Nuremberg Zoo said: 'The zoo is aware that this decision is difficult for many people to understand and that it has caused irritation, concern and anger. For the zoo itself, its employees and everyone involved in the decision-making process, it is the most difficult path to take. Without exception, it has affected everyone deeply.' While other German zoos defended Nuremberg's course of action, they said they had managed their primate population by sterilising the animals, or finding alternative accommodation. The German Animal Welfare Association said the killing of supposedly surplus animals has become a common practice in zoos in recent years, but that the killing of primates due to overcrowding was a new development. Anna Ritzinger, an animal rights activist, said: 'Primates are very similar to us, which is why it affects so many people.' • German zoo frees tiny lynx that kept trying to escape Aalborg Zoo in Denmark has appealed to the public to donate unwanted domestic pets to help feed its predators. 'Chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs make up an important part of the diet of our predators — especially in the European lynx, which needs whole prey, which is reminiscent of what it would naturally hunt in the wild,' the zoo said on its Facebook page. 'If you have a healthy animal that has to leave here for various reasons, feel free to donate it to us. The animals are gently euthanised by trained staff and are afterwards used as fodder.' So far in 2025, 137 rabbits have been donated to the zoo. Many of the donated animals are old or injured. The zoo has also asked for donations of horses. 'There are also many who lose interest in their pets, and then we can help people out of a dilemma,' explained Henrik Vesterskov Johansen, director of Aalborg Zoo.
Daily Mail
29-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
German zoo sparks outrage over killing 12 of its baboons after contraception failed to stop the primates breeding
A German zoo has sparked condemnation after culling 12 baboons amid fears the group had grown too large for their enclosure, while contraception had failed to stop the primates from breeding. Nuremberg Zoo first announced plans to kill a number of baboons it did not have space for in February 2024. Zoo officials said that they had examined offers to take in some of the animals, but they were unable to make any of them work. Director Dag Encke said previously that the 'sensible' plan to kill off nearly half of the baboon population in the zoo would help 'ensure the survival' of the species. The zoo had been housing 43 Guinea baboons in an enclosure, built in the late 2000s, that had originally intended to accommodate 25 animals plus their young. Officials argued that a lack of space resulted in additional stress for the primates and more arguments between these otherwise social animals, which increasingly ended in blood. But the decision to cull the animals drew the ire of animal rights protesters, who were seen on Tuesday afternoon forcing their way into the zoo, which announced it was closed for the day for unspecified 'operational reasons.' Some of the activists were arrested by police after they glued themselves to the ground in protest. A statement released by the zoo shortly afterwards confirmed that 12 baboons had been killed, German news agency dpa reported. Further details were not immediately available, while animal rights groups said they planned to file a criminal complaint. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classified Guinea baboons as endangered and said they should be kept in zoos for species conservation. Guinea baboons live in protected areas in several West African countries, but because the population there has also surged there was no space to relocate Nuremberg's primates to African countries either, Encke previously explained. Since 2011, 16 baboons had been moved from Nuremberg Zoo to other facilities in Paris and China. Officials at the zoo argued that a lack of space resulted in additional stress for the primates and more violent arguments between these otherwise social animals But those zoos, and another in Spain to which baboons were previously sent, had reached their own capacity. Animals are regularly euthanised in European zoos for a range of reasons, but have equally provoked anger from animal rights activists. In 2014, Copenhagen Zoo killed a healthy two-year-old giraffe because he was 'surplus to requirements'. Staff then butchered its carcass in front of a crowd that included schoolchildren and fed the dead animal to the lions.
