I have to add, the death of Marius wasn't necessary. If his genetics would cause problems within the a breeding program he could have been castrated. Horses are castrated all the time.

I find this committed in poor insight for more than simply the death of Marius. The zoo immediately fed their wildcats with the meat of this giraffe. Why would anyone feed large cats in a zoo environment freshly killed giraffe meat?

In practice, when wild animals are exposed to killing humans they are hunted down and euthanized because one they get the taste of the hunt and the prey they will repeat their actions. In feeding a freshly killed giraffe to the zoo's lions and tigers and otherwise, won't that cause problems? I would expect those cats will seek more of the same. I think this is the worst idea this zoo and it's association has ever had. I expect more civilized answers for zoo animals than this.

I would expect the Copenhagen Zoo to close it to the public for a few days until the behavior of the Big Cats were better understood. 

Ian Johnston 

09 February 2014

...The reaction to the death of Marius was swift. (click here)

Stine Jensen, of Denmark’s Organisation Against the Suffering of Animals, said the giraffe had been treated like a “waste product”, while Animal Rights Sweden said: “The only way to stop this is to not visit zoos.”

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....

Giraffes are cows to be raised for slaughter.