Zoo Incidents

Some members of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) practice culling animals out of sight from visitors.

Since records began approximately a century ago, five giraffes have been culled for similar "conservation management reasons". This is out of a captive population in Europe that in 2014 stands at 798 giraffes. Since 2012, two other young giraffe bulls in the EEP have been euthanized.

Keeping animals in European zoos is regulated by EU Council Directive 1999/22/EC. This makes no provision for the slaughter or public dissection of healthy, non-aggressive conservation animals.

Aalborg Zoo

Aalborg Zoo in Denmark shot and sectioned a giraffe on 13 January 2011. The reason was that the giraffe could not be used for inbreeding. The body was donated to scientists to perform some research.

Odense Zoo

Odense Zoo, also in Denmark, killed and publicly sectioned one lion on Sunday, 2 February 2014. They said that the reason was that they have too many lions in their zoo.

Jyllands Park Zoo

Jyllands Park Zoo, also in Denmark, was believed to be considering culling another giraffe named Marius, if they acquired a new female giraffe. Later Jyllands Park Zoo claimed it has no plans to put down this giraffe.