Second Danish zoo May Kill a Giraffe called Marius

It's a strange twist of fate but another Danish Zoo with a male hybrid Giraffe called Marius has said it may have to kill him when they receive a female as he is a mix of different sub-species.
Marius (2) is currently housed at The Danish Jyllands Park Zoo, in western Denmark with a pure-bred giraffe called Elmer who just happens to be the half-brother of Copenhagen's Marius.

"At the moment, there is no problem," said zoologist Jasper Moehring. "Marius is good company for Elmer and they are a wonderful attraction for our visitors. "But the problem will be when we get a female. The two males will fight, which could result in the death of one of them," he told the BBC.

But the death sentence has not yet been passed as Jasper Moehring said ...

He said the zoo will get six months' notice before the arrival of the female and its priority will be to find a new home for Marius. But he stressed that the move must not harm the carefully regulated genetic make-up of the giraffe population, otherwise Marius will have to be put down.
Second Danish zoo may kill a giraffe called Marius

These poor beautiful creatures should be left in the wild if their fate is to die young in these zoos.

reply to post by Night Star


I agree , I'm not a fan of Zoo's although I think safari parks are acceptable as they offer people a chance to see these magnificent animals in the semi wild , for some endangered species it is also a way of ensuring their survival .

I can also see why they would want to maintain the genetic purity of the animals as cross breeding can lead to difficulties later on , it's sad but life isn't always fair both in captivity and in the wild.

This Marius may get lucky and go to another Zoo or Park but he may face the same problems further on down the road , only time will tell.

I've always found that the declaration of such love for an animal being best-expressed by killing said animal is suspect, at-best. More likely, the willingness to do so is born of latent sociopathy masked as concern.

As with the other Giraffe, this Giraffe has been offered out to other Zoo's to take him, it will only be put down if no one of the Zoo's are able to give him a proper place to live or are part of a breeding program where he can be with other Giraffes. It will not be offered to privat persons who wants a pet, Cause they in almost every case don't have the right space and enclosure to give the giraffe a healthy life.

As you say only time will tell.

Zoo's are not that bad, it might be wrong to hold animals in captivity for people to look at if you strech it, but if everyone had to go to Africa to see a live Giraffe, it would be complet chaos down there and ruin it even more for the animals in the wild.

I hope they find a good solution to this, just as i hoped for the other one, but because of the big story of the other one, this one might attract more attention for someone to take it.

Good luck to Marius 2.

here's what giraffes do left to their own

reply to post by gortex


I might be wrong, but I don't think we have the right in animals or even humans to make the call for who/ what livesor dies. I think nature does a much better job of deciding the survival of the fittest. We don't know what genetic mix is needed to keep life thriving on this planet as we destroy species and pollute our air and water.

While a genetic pure breed may be anesthetically pleasing to look at, and more desirable for some, it doesn't mean necessarily, that it will be strong enough or even smart enough to keep life productive on our ever changing planet.

I think our obsession with perfection could be the death of us.

reply to post by bladdersweat


Interesting video of the giraffe fight, I've never seen that before. The one on the left didn't seem to know that it was supposed to whomp its horns into the underbelly of its opponent, and kept going for the neck. Needs more training before it's ready to fight the big boys of the savanna. Now I plan to strengthen my neck muscles so I can use the same technique if I ever enter the ring.

Poor captives. If he has a chance to mate and father pray they don't name him Marius Jr. as that sounds like a risky fate. Animal eugenics, tsk tsk.

This is a very SIMPLE fix, just make the Giraffe sterile or unable to pass on genes, DUH.... I understand the importance of not mixing certain gene traits with another sub-species, But this giraffe did not pick its mother and father, so its hardly fair or this animals fault.

From a purely financial aspect on both of the giraffe's in question, a giraffe eats approximately 75 pounds of food a day, it's not free. This Marius is 7 years old, that's a lot of food! That's an awfully expensive steak for the lions. Rabbits or fowl would be much cheaper. So as a food source, it's plain stupid to use these animals for food, especially when other zoos are willing to take them. The other thing I personally object to is these animals are in captivity with no chance of escaping danger. In the wild, they have an opportunity to avoid becoming the evening meal. In captivity they're just dead meat, pardon the expression.

Didnt know there was a different 'sub-species' of giraffe

Any honest geneticist would admit sub-species are just different regionalities of the same species

Ie, homo sapiens africanus vs homo sapiens asiaticus. just plain made up to create a divide between different human races

It's like killing a mixed-'race' human!

Yea, why not just castrate? They're so full of it and IMO they just dont want to carry the huge winter heating overhead

reply to post by gardener

Didnt know there was a different 'sub-species' of giraffe

Neither did I but apparently there are 9
Giraffe subspecies

It's like killing a mixed-'race' human!

Not really no.

Mianeye

But because of the big story of the other one, this one might attract more attention for someone to take it.

Good luck to Marius 2.

And it has begun, first offer came in today.
Just not sure he is the right guy for other reasons.

Click me

To sentence one giraffe named Marius to death may be regarded as a misfortune; to sentence two would be a catastrophe, according to Ramzan Kadyrov.

The Chechen president has used his Instagram account to offer to take in the second Marius, which, it emerged on Wednesday, has been threatened with the same fate as his namesake.