Saturday 8 February 2014

Who knew there was an EU directive on interbreeding giraffes?

Copenhagen Zoo is planning to put down an 18 month old giraffe because EU rules on interbreeding mean that they can't allow it to breed with the giraffes they already have.

Animal rights campaigners are trying to save the animal but the zoo have been unable to relocate it. They intend to kill the giraffe with a bolt gun, dissect it and feed the meat to other animals.

Even baby giraffes aren't safe from the EU!

Update:
Marius was put down this morning.

Update 2:
Some anti-UKIP tweeters have criticised this post because the rules on interbreeding are made by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria which isn't part of the EU. The EAZA make have made the rules but they are implemented by EU Directive 1999/22/EC which became law in England in 2002 (2003 for Scotland, Wales and NI) and further clarified in the British government's Zoo Expert Committee Handbook.