A 16 year old male lion, a lioness, and two younger lions were euthanized at Copenhagen Zoo to make room for new lions, which is the not the first time they came under fire.
The zoo said in a statement that, "Now two young females born in 2012 have become mature and are healthy, they can take over from the old female and form a strong triangle with the new male,” and continued to say that the two young cubs that were euthanized would have been killed by the new male lion as soon as he had a chance, according to ABC News.
This same zoo euthanized 18 month old giraffe, Marius, under the name if interbreeding. Not only was Marius put down, but then was dissected in front of a group of children, and fed it to the lions that were recently killed.
Maria Evans, an animal protection activist said, “The zoos have produced him so it is their responsibility to find him a home, no matter how long it takes. They must not be allowed to take the easy option,” according to Xinhuanet.