How many healthy animals do {European} zoos put down?

[eppur_se_muova]

By Hannah Barnes
BBC News

When Copenhagen Zoo put down a healthy male giraffe earlier this month, much of the world was horrified. But those in the know say it's quite normal - a fate that befalls thousands of zoo animals across Europe every year.

"This is not a thing that should go anywhere outside Denmark," says Copenhagen Zoo's Scientific Director Bengt Holst, responding to the barrage of critical news coverage. "We all know it's done every day."

Every day? It's not actually quite that often, but Holst says it's difficult to give a precise number.

"We do it when it's necessary," he says. "If I should take an average over 10 years - it could be probably something like 20, 30 [per year]."
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So, unless European zoos adopt the American practice of using contraception to prevent the birth of surplus animals, culling is here to stay.
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more: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26356099





And they haven't adopted contraception because .... ???

[Sunlei]

1. Lab animals too, some they breed surplus and tons leftovers from non-lethal experiments

Those zoos treat their surplus zoo animals like lab animals, only thing they can think of is cull, kill.

I know some zoos list extra animals or there may even be sanctuaries where they could roam a large area.

All those rooms of dogs and cats, rodents, rabbits- the experiments over or teaching class has ended.

The primates they usually trade around the system for more experiments.

[narnian60]

2. I have always hated the word "cull"

because to me it just means kill. Now I have a new phrase to despise: management euthanasia.