[Taxacom] Killing of zoo giraffe to avoid inbreeding

Mon Feb 10 18:45:16 CST 2014

Mike's observations were pretty much the same as expressed by a
representative of the Copenhagen Zoo in an interview on public radio here
in the US.

Only thing I am still puzzled about is how did the zoo allows this
particular giraffe to be produced by 'inbreeding' in the first place.

John Grehan

On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 6:34 PM, Michael A. Ivie <mivie at montana.edu> wrote:

> Ken,
>
> If Yorkshire is a good zoo, and has room for another male giraffe, and the
> same for the Dutch one, they should use that space for a more genetically
> suitable specimen.  Room in good zoos is finite, this was not an
> individual that made good use of those limited resources.  Wanting to
> "save him" is simple emotionalism over good practice.  This was a
> definitional excess animal.  How much would it cost to ship a giraffe from
> Denmark to England?  Not $50, I am sure. This way, 200lbs of meat was not
> bought, and those transport Euros can be used more wisely.
>
> This was not even a hard choice.
>
> Mike
>
>
> > Hi Kim,
> >         Well, I agree with some of the points you made.  Hard choices
> have
> > to be made sometimes for the good of the species.  However, this
> > was not a case where Marius would have been taking a spot of
> > another (genetically more valuable) giraffe in a conservation
> > program.
> >        Yorkshire Wildlife Park offered to put him in their recently
> formed
> > bachelor group of giraffes.  He wouldn't have been breeding there,
> > and there is no reason to think they would sell him to a circus.  I
> > think this makes the Copenhagen conservationists look bad when they
> > ignore offers to give such a giraffe a new home:
> > "Yorkshire Wildlife Park said it was "saddened" to hear of his death,
> > expressing disappointment that its last minute offer to house Marius in
> > its "state-of-the-art giraffe house" alongside four other males,
> including
> > one from Copenhagen Zoo, had been ignored. A Dutch wildlife park had also
> > offered to re-home him."
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 14:34:39 -0500
> >> From: kim at kimvdlinde.com
> >> To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> >> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Killing of zoo giraffe to avoid inbreeding
> >>
> >> And let me add. Many zoos and sanctuaries for that matter have become
> >> warehouses of geriatric and surplus animals solely because the public
> >> cannot handle that we sometimes need to kill an exotic animal that is
> >> healthy. As a result, valuable breeding programs for endangered species
> >> are on hold because of it to the point that the only way to restart
> >> those programs once there is space again is to get fresh wild caught
> >> animals because there are no healthy reproducing animals left, or the
> >> few remaining are too related. In some species, prolonged suppression of
> >> the natural cycles to prevent breeding causes problems down the road
> >> such as infertility. Does this all sound absurd? Yes, it does, because
> >> at this moment, we have let out emotions (which is individual centered)
> >> overrule what is best for the species. If we are serious about zoos as a
> >> tool in conservation, we need to make the decision based on what is best
> >> for the species, and not emotions surrounding a single individual.
> >>
> >> Kim
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 2/10/2014 1:21 PM, Ken Kinman wrote:
> >> > Dear All,       As you may have heard, a young giraffe at the
> >> Copenhagen Zoo was killed yesterday in order to avoid inbreeding.
> >> That despite offers from other zoos to rehome him.  Although I can
> >> understand the zoo's rationalization, I don't understand what harm
> >> would have come from shipping him off to another zoo if he would be a
> >> zoo display animal (not a breeder).
> >> >       Anyway, I guess this is common practice in zoos to avoid
> >> inbreeding in other mammals.  However, displaying the dead
> >> animal to a crowd (including children), much less reportedly
> >> cutting it up in front of said crowd, was probably very unwise.
> >> Especially a young giraffe.  But on the other hand, death
> >> threats against zoo officials certainly are not called for.  In
> >> any case, I suppose a civil debate is in order about just how
> >> strict a zoo's inbreeding protocol should be in such cases (as
> >> well as the displaying of such a dead animal in public).
> >> > http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/10/world/europe/denmark-zoo-giraffe/
> >>
> >>
> >> --------------------Ken Kinman
> >> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
> --
> Michael A. Ivie, Ph.D., F.R.E.S.
> Montana Entomology Collection
> Marsh Labs, Room 50
> NW corner of Lincoln and S.19th
> 1911 West Lincoln Street
> Montana State University
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> USA
>
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