GRAPHIC: Denmark Zoo Publicly Kills ‘Surplus’ Baby Giraffe; Feeds to Animals

Why did Copenhagen Zoo kill its giraffe? (BBC)

A young giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo has been euthanised - in the words of officials - to prevent inbreeding. The BBC examines the reasons for the action, which caused an outcry.

The zoo says this was done because the genes of the giraffe, named Marius, were too similar to other giraffes in a breeding programme run by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

Breeding closely related animals increases the chances that rare, harmful genes are expressed in offspring.

Two copies of a gene are inherited - one version from each parent. One of these copies might be harmful (deleterious), but if the other parent carries a non-harmful version of the gene, pairing them up might not result in any adverse consequences for offspring.