People Outraged by Slaughter Marius the Giraffe

Outrage is pouring in from around the world over a Danish zoo killing a healthy giraffe and feeding it to the lions. INSIDE EDITION has more on this shocking story.

People everywhere are reacting with outrage at the slaughter of a healthy giraffe named, Marius.

A zoo worker described what happened saying, “I stood behind with a rifle and when he put his head forward and ate the rye bread, I shot him, straight through the brain. It sounds violent, but it means that Marius had no idea of what was coming.”

The gentle giant was even butchered in front of children and then fed to hungry lions and tigers and polar bears in full view!

The zoo in Copenhagen, Denmark today defended itself, saying that Marius the giraffe was euthanized to avoid inbreeding among its collection of giraffes.

Former zoo director and animal expert, Jarod Miller, told INSIDE EDITION, “Euthanasia, especially in a zoological situation, is always the absolute last resort. There could have been other alternatives and my experience as a zoo director and as an administrator is that I would have handled this much differently.”  

But killing, with a bolt gun to the head, took place, despite pleas from around the world to save the animal. The zoo defended its decision to let so many youngsters watch as the giraffe was butchered for its meat.

In the wild, giraffes can live for 25 years. Marius was just 18 months old.