Marius the Giraffe

I am so saddened by the latest story of cruelty in a Zoo. A Copenhagen Zoo decided to put a bullet in the head of a healthy 2-year old male giraffe. Marius was bred on site, yet the reason they have given is because he had similar genes to  the other giraffes and want to better the future genes. In other words, they’ve been inbreeding and felt Marius was expendable. A cute, unassuming baby who was living the only life he knew. One of captivity, but a somewhat good life. What outrages me even more is that they had two other sanctuaries offer to take him, and they had protesters and a petition of over 20,000 signatures. They still publicly executed Marius. Their reason for not granting him life at another zoo, or a sanctuary, was that they couldn’t guarantee him a good life. They wouldn’t be able to control how well he was cared for and treated. They’d rather him be shot, in front of children, dissected, and  then fed to the lions, all the while being observed by kids.

“I know the giraffe is a nice looking animal, but I don’t think there would have been such an outrage if it had been an antelope, and I don’t think anyone would have lifted an eyebrow if it was a pig,” said Holst.

I have to disagree. I have found pigs adorable, and I’m certain that had it been an antelope I would have been just as disgusted. I’m a huge animal lover, and when we go to a new city that has a zoo, we will spend the day there. However, with that said, I don’t think all zoo’s are worthy of the support. Unfortunately, the animals are still at the mercy of such administrators. I don’t have a solution, obviously, but those that take care of the wild animals in captivity aren’t all inhumane. In fact, there are many that have helped keep certain animals from going extinct.

So. Marius’ cute face will be on my mind, and yes, now I want a giraffe to keep my elephant and kangaroo company. They’d be best of buds, I’m fairly certain… maybe, across the fence buds, but BFF’s all the same!