COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A Danish zoo has defended its decision to kill two aging lions and two cubs, citing the risk of inbreeding and the arrival of a new male.
This week’s cull has put the zoo on the defensive again, a month after it infuriated animal rights activists by killing a healthy giraffe, dissecting it in public and feeding it to the lions.
In statement Wednesday, the zoo said it had to put down the lions to make room for the new male, saying it wouldn’t have been accepted by the pride if the old male were still around. The cubs were also killed because they were not old enough to fend for themselves and would have been killed anyway by the new male.
No public dissection was planned this time.