To most Australians, zoos recreate a garden of eden, devoted to the production and nurturing of life where animals live to a healthy old age. The images from Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark where keepers ended the life of an 18-month-old male giraffe, named Marius, dissected the animal before a crowd of onlookers and then fed the remains to its lions shattered this illusion for many.

Unlike the public display in Denmark, Australian zoos prefer to keep their animal deaths private.

Met with a terrible fate: Marius the giraffe. Credit:AFP

Last year, Taronga Zoo in Sydney killed 74 animals. A Himalayan mountain goat, a palm squirrel, a forest monkey with pneumonia, a mountain sheep with joint disease, and an infant gibbon abandoned by its mother at birth were among the animals killed. Five animals - two mice, two rats and a rabbit - were put down to manage populations.

None of the dead exotic wildlife nor native animals was fed to the zoo carnivores, a Taronga spokesman said, with the remains handled either by incineration or deep burial to meet government regulations on disposal. However, domestic animals from its farm exhibit were used to provide meat.