Yesterday, Copenhagen Zoo decided to “humanely euthanise” an 18-month-old giraffe named Marius. By all accounts the animal was pretty healthy but the zoo said they had to kill Marius because there was a risk of inbreeding if he reproduced. So, having turned down several offers to rehome Marius, Copenhagen Zoo figured it was best to shoot him in the head, chop him up in front of a load of kids and feed what was left of him to the lions.Before he was introduced to the bolt gun, Marius was fed his favourite meal of rye bread :(Naturally, people on the internet weren't too happy about all this. An international petition garnered 27,000 signatures, the bosses of the zoo received death threats and even Ricky Gervais took time out to be sad about it on social media. But how do regular Danish folk feel?
VICE: How do you feel about the killing of Marius the giraffe?
Sarah, 27, student: Actually, I’m kind of torn. They named it, so that really speaks to my emotions but on the other hand, I eat meat every day.What do you think they should have done with him instead of killing him?
I don’t know, I heard about this Swede who was willing to buy it because he had a house for it or something. I thought that they should give it to him. I don’t understand if the people who work there are even sad about it. So they'd been calling him by his name, and then they just killed him? Like, “Bye, Marius.”How do you feel about them letting the public watch his execution and subsequent feeding to the lions?
It doesn’t make me angry, but I wouldn’t go to see it myself.
VICE: What’s your take on Marius being killed?
Daniel, 32, unemployed: I think it’s been very over-exaggerated in the media. I saw one of the people from the zoo speaking about it yesterday on the news, and I think he gave some very good explanations. I think the people who are making such a big deal are maybe not very familiar with animals and how the zoo needs to take care of them. So that might be why they give such a reaction. Do you think part of the anger stems from Marius being a giraffe and not a goat or something?
I definitely do. There was a similar scandal earlier last year in the EU, regarding horsemeat. There were two sides to that debate as well – one was that people were not being informed of what they were eating, and the other was the question of whether or not it was immoral to eat horsemeat. We eat pigs and cows every day but people were appalled at the idea of eating horse. It’s kind of silly really.
VICE: What do you think, first of all, about Copenhagen Zoo publicly showing the killing of Marius?
Ida, 15, student/vegetarian: It sounds very violent, did that really happen? It sounds like something somebody would make up.It really happened; kids could watch if their parents let them.
Ew.Do you eat meat?
No, I’m a vegetarian.Do you think him being a giraffe instead of a goat or sheep makes it a bigger deal?
Well, yeah. But the lions have to eat as well, and they're probably supposed to eat things like giraffes more than pigs and goats, right?
VICE: What is your opinion on what happened to poor Marius yesterday?
Mette, 55, accountant: Well, I think that it was extremely hard to see, because he was a healthy young animal and it’s not fair to kill him. On the other hand, it was said that they could not export him to another zoo for fear of inbreeding, which is also fair, so I’m very torn on the case.The CEO of the Danish zoo has explained that this kind of killing has been going on for years in zoos in order to maintain a healthy balance of species, but now that it’s made public I think it’s unnecessary for it to be shown on TV and to kids and all of this. It’s fine that they fed him to the lions so that they didn’t waste the meat, but all this big show is too much.
Annons
Sarah, 27, student: Actually, I’m kind of torn. They named it, so that really speaks to my emotions but on the other hand, I eat meat every day.What do you think they should have done with him instead of killing him?
I don’t know, I heard about this Swede who was willing to buy it because he had a house for it or something. I thought that they should give it to him. I don’t understand if the people who work there are even sad about it. So they'd been calling him by his name, and then they just killed him? Like, “Bye, Marius.”How do you feel about them letting the public watch his execution and subsequent feeding to the lions?
It doesn’t make me angry, but I wouldn’t go to see it myself.
Daniel, 32, unemployed: I think it’s been very over-exaggerated in the media. I saw one of the people from the zoo speaking about it yesterday on the news, and I think he gave some very good explanations. I think the people who are making such a big deal are maybe not very familiar with animals and how the zoo needs to take care of them. So that might be why they give such a reaction. Do you think part of the anger stems from Marius being a giraffe and not a goat or something?
I definitely do. There was a similar scandal earlier last year in the EU, regarding horsemeat. There were two sides to that debate as well – one was that people were not being informed of what they were eating, and the other was the question of whether or not it was immoral to eat horsemeat. We eat pigs and cows every day but people were appalled at the idea of eating horse. It’s kind of silly really.
Annons
Ida, 15, student/vegetarian: It sounds very violent, did that really happen? It sounds like something somebody would make up.It really happened; kids could watch if their parents let them.
Ew.Do you eat meat?
No, I’m a vegetarian.Do you think him being a giraffe instead of a goat or sheep makes it a bigger deal?
Well, yeah. But the lions have to eat as well, and they're probably supposed to eat things like giraffes more than pigs and goats, right?
Mette, 55, accountant: Well, I think that it was extremely hard to see, because he was a healthy young animal and it’s not fair to kill him. On the other hand, it was said that they could not export him to another zoo for fear of inbreeding, which is also fair, so I’m very torn on the case.The CEO of the Danish zoo has explained that this kind of killing has been going on for years in zoos in order to maintain a healthy balance of species, but now that it’s made public I think it’s unnecessary for it to be shown on TV and to kids and all of this. It’s fine that they fed him to the lions so that they didn’t waste the meat, but all this big show is too much.