At one zoo in Germany, the coronavirus pandemic has produced a dog-eat-dog environment.
Sort of.
The Neumünster Zoo is requesting donations and warning it might have to slaughter some of its animals to feed others in the park to keep them alive.
The zoo’s director, Verena Kaspari, said killing some animals so others could live would be a last resort, but, “If it comes to it, I’ll have to euthanize animals, rather than let them starve,” she told Die Welt.
can someone please help this zoo please??? https://t.co/OkAGZuDlsN
— Adrienne Vogt (@AdrienneVogt) April 15, 2020
Tierpark Neumünster, which is between Hamburg and the Danish border in northern Germany, has been closed to the paying public since March 15 because of a government order to shut down nonessential businesses in the country. The park is relying entirely on donations.
The Association of Zoological Gardens, to which 56 zoos and animal parks in Germany belong, has approached the German government with a request for about 100 million euros in emergency aid.
Kaspari told German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle endangered animals would not be killed, but goats and deer would be first on the slaughter list.
The zoo, in Germany, did not say which animal would be killed first, but it did say which one would be the last: a 12-foot polar bear called Vitus. https://t.co/b8Xfu0P2Kp
— Liam Stack (@liamstack) April 15, 2020
“We have zero income and the same costs,” Kaspari said.
