This was a surprise. I was expecting "This guy is eloquent and intelligent" to be sarcasm. I thought the event being discussed was abhorrent and terrible, but he made an irrefutable case for it's legitimacy. I would think the people who came to watch the dissection of the giraffe would have known what they were in for beforehand, and his argument of the nature of it all, and the educational value (even just of the brutality of nature) struck me as sincere and realistic. Count me as having totally changed my mind of this incident. Sounds bad at first glance: actually has worth and was not necessarily an ignorant decision. I'm sure, and accept, that a lot of people will still disagree, but I'm glad I watched this.

18-Month-Old Healthy Giraffe Publicly Killed and Dismembered has been added as a related post - related requested by bareboards2 on that post.

Giraffe Copenhagen Zoo chief: 'I like animals' has been added as a related post - related requested by bareboards2.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/Giraffe-Copenhagen-Zoo-chief-I-like-animals

Giraffe Copenhagen Zoo chief

Advertising? They're very popular with the zoo-going public. Also, two of the subspecies are at least somewhat endangered - http://www.giraffeconservation.org/giraffe_facts.php?pgid=40 (although Marius wasn't a member of either, he looked like a Reticulated Giraffe, the most common captive Giraffe).

Your video, 18-Month-Old Healthy Giraffe Publicly Killed and Dismembered, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

That's the point. The zoo gave a rat's ass.

They didn't want it to end up in a circus.
They didn't want it used in a breeding program.
They didn't want to take up valuable space that could have been used for another more genetically useful giraffe.

Yeah, it seems cold and calculating, but there are reasons behind the decision.

What I'm unclear about is why we need giraffes in zoos in the first place. They're not an endangered species, so I don't see the need for a breeding program.

You're comparing apples and apple seeds.

No one would be upset by a giraffe fetus being aborted.

And the people who are not upset by abortions would be very upset about an 18-month-old human being killed, dismembered, and fed to the house cats.

People get upset about a giraffe being killed but don't think twice about the number of aborted children in this world.

That is exactly what I find fucked up about this story. The public display.

Wouldn't it have been possible to sterilise the Giraffe instead of killing it? It could've still lived in another place.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26118748

"Joerg Jebram, who oversees the European endangered species programme for giraffes, told the AP news agency: "Zoos could design new giraffe facilities, but many don't have that option.

"A young bull could theoretically be sent to an all-female group as stud, but experts prefer a larger, more mature male for that, and Marius didn't fit that bill.

"A final option is sending the giraffe to a zoo that doesn't participate in the EAZA-led breeding programme, but that could leave the giraffe or its offspring being sold into worse circumstances, such as those of a circus or private collection."

Copenhagen Zoo had turned down offers from at least two other zoos to take Marius and an offer from a private individual who wanted to buy the giraffe for 500,000 euros ($680,000).

Bengt Holst, Copenhagen Zoo's scientific director, said it had turned down an offer from Yorkshire Wildlife Park in the UK, which is a member of EAZA, because Marius' older brother lives there and the park's space could be better used by a "genetically more valuable giraffe"."

So yah. Who knew that the guys who made caring for animals their like, profession and stuff might actually have some like, reasons. and stuff. I know, I know, it doesn't make as great a headline as "Zoo murders and mutilates innocent giraffe in front of children. also aidsrape."

*dead giraffe, lion happy with taste for blood, receptors firing again.

@lucky760 pretty sure this is the same video with a few seconds of lion footage added at the end.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/denmark/10627119/Copenhagen-zoo-kills-and-dismembers-young-giraffe.html
*backup=[...snipped...]

-edit- well that didnt work

I wonder if it would have triggered less (or more, for that matter) of an angry response if they'd just put the live giraffe in with the lions to be "hunted" and eaten "naturally."