A Denmark zoo's decision to kill a healthy 2-year-old giraffe and then publicly cut it up and feed it to the lions has sparked a storm of international outrage. "It's abominable," said Jack Hanna, emeritus director of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. "These are creatures we have a responsibility for - to find it a home if they don't have the room."

A Denmark zoo�s decision to kill a healthy 2-year-old giraffe and then publicly cut it up and feed it to the lions has sparked a storm of international outrage.

�It�s abominable,� said Jack Hanna, emeritus director of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. �These are creatures we have a responsibility for � to find it a home if they don�t have the room.�

Officials at the Copenhagen Zoo killed the male giraffe on Sunday because other giraffes with similar genes already are in the breeding program of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, spokesman Tobias Stenbaek Bro said.

He said the association, which has 347 members, recommended that the giraffe be killed.

Visitors, including children, were invited to watch as the killed giraffe was skinned and fed to the lions.

�I thought for sure when I first heard it that it wasn�t true,� Hanna said. �This whole thing has me beyond concern.�

Ed Hansen, CEO of the 3,000-member American Association of Zoo Keepers, said he isn�t aware of another time when a zoo euthanized an animal to manage genetics.

�It�s not an accepted practice in any zoo,� said Hansen, who was a zookeeper for 23 years before beginning work for the association. �There are other options, like herd management so all the male giraffes are together.�

The giraffe also could have been castrated, he said. That requires anesthetizing the giraffe, which has health risks, but Hansen said it would be worth it if the other option is death.

�If you would put 100 U.S. zookeepers in a room, I would bet that 100 of them would be disturbed by this,� he said.

�If you would put 100 European zookeepers in a room and one was from the Copenhagen Zoo, 99 of them would be disturbed.�

Stenbaek Bro said the Copenhagen Zoo turned down offers from other zoos to take the giraffe, named Marius, and from an unidentified person who had offered to buy the giraffe for $680,000.

A statement on the zoo�s website responded yesterday to some of the outcry.

�We know that many are angry about the euthanization of a giraffe in Copenhagen Zoo today,� the statement says. �But we would like to stress that we do not consider it cruelty to animals to first euthanize a giraffe and then feed it to the lions. Lions are predators, and thus they eat meat. In this case, the lions were fed a giraffe, which lions also eat in nature. ...

�This is how it is. Meat comes from animals. In this case, we know that the meat comes from an animal who has led a good life.�

The Copenhagen Zoo�s scientific director and other staff members have received death threats.

But director Bengt Holst said it was the right decision and he would be ready to do the same with another animal if needed.

Hanna said he would have gladly paid out of his own pocket to save the giraffe and ship it to the United States.

�I would literally sell some of the stuff I have to do that,� he said. �I have 30 acres in Montana where I could take it.�

The Copenhagen Zoo had notified the public of its plan to kill Marius, generating an online petition signed by thousands who wanted to stop his death.

Yesterday, a new petition called for firing Holst. By 4 p.m. yesterday, the petition had more than 40,000 signatures.

Hanna said that as long as he is connected to the Columbus Zoo, it will not have anything to do with the Copenhagen Zoo. And he said he would never be a member of an association that condoned or recommended such actions.

�I want people to know that I don�t know of any zoo in this country that would do this, and if it did, it would not be allowed to have any connection to the Columbus Zoo.�

He said he was sickened that the zoo allowed visitors, including young children, to watch the giraffe being cut up.

�Kids today see so many violent things. What they do with their animal after they put it down is up to them, but to do it in public is not even comprehendible to me.�

Stenbaek Bro said allowing children to see the giraffe dismembered gave them �a huge understanding of the anatomy of a giraffe that they wouldn�t have had from watching a giraffe in a photo.�

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a worldwide organization with more than 6,000 members, did not respond to emails but issued a statement saying its �programs and procedures� are different from those of the European association. It did not condemn or support the Copenhagen Zoo�s decision about Marius.

Christina Simmons, public-relations manager of the San Diego Zoo, said officials did not have enough information yesterday to have an opinion about the decision in Copenhagen.

But, she said, San Diego keepers would not cut up a dead animal in front of the public.

�A display of that nature in front of the public would not help us with the message we�re trying to get across,� she said. �Anything we do is meant to bring people closer to animals and the conservation of animals.�

Information from the Associated Press and Reuters was included in this story.

kgray@dispatch.com

@reporterkathy