Believe it or not, but even most Germans don't think that this incident (Knut killing & eating carps) is worth worrying about. The problem, however, is that the German Animal Rights Activists are quite touchy when it comes to watching zoo animals devour live vertebrates-a characteristic they seem to share with their Australian, Danish, Dutch and most other of their international colleagues, don't they? About Blaszkiewitz's position: let's see what the future will bring to him. Currently, German animal right activists rather try to focus on Nuremberg and its Polar Bear cub "Flocke"... About euthanasia: in many western countries, a veterinarian is not allowed to euthanise a healthy animal, simply due to being "surplus" or unwanted. A good thing, if You ask me, especially in regard to the pet trade. Yet the problem with animals is-though this does not defend and justify Berlin's alleged actions-that even the most elaborate and carefully planned "breeding protocol" might have its flaws and unpredicted lapses now and then-just like with us humans. So You end up with surplus animals no serious institution wants to have-so what You gonna do with them? Keep them under bad conditions? Sell them to some shady dealer? Turn them into sausages and dog food? Always a hard & tricky question...
I agree that problems of surplus animals can arise within a carefully managed breeding problem. BUT - in Berlin, the animals which were sold to the dealer are not results of carefully and responsibly planned breding programs. In in Animal Park, they breed just everything and outside the recommendations of the EEP coordinator. For example, they just don`t take part in the siberian tiger EEP. They have cubs each year and I have no idea where all the young go. Not to EEP zoos! They breed leopards which are subspecies hybrids, knowing that it is virtually impossible to place them in a zoo. They breed jaguars every year, knowing that there is no EEP and no demand for so many jaguars. And so on and so on.....
The Sibirian Tigers are Mother and Son. He´s now over 2 years old and there is no breeding. Many Zoos in Germany breed Jaguars & there is a good market in German Zoos as far as I know.
My German is not up to speed, is this about a kiwi chick born at the zoo in March? Zoo Berlin / ERLEBEN / Aktuelles / News
