Berlin (AP) – A zoo in Germany’s Nuremberg city said it killed 12 baboons on Tuesday despite protests. The zoo covered a story rooted in concern that there was too little space to accommodate growing groups.
The Tiergartennurnberg Zoo was first to announce its plan to kill a baboon that had no space in February 2024.
The plan attracted criticism from animal rights groups. They also attracted protests at the zoo, which said they must begin preparing to kill the baboon on Monday. It announced Tuesday morning that it was closing the day for unspecified “operational reasons.”
On Tuesday afternoon, police said several activists had surged to the ground.
Shortly afterwards, the zoo said it had killed 12 baboons, the German news agency DPA reported. Details were not available immediately. Animal rights groups said they plan to file criminal charges.
The zoo’s Guinea baboon population grew to 43, too big for a house built for 25 animals and young animals in the late 2000s, causing more conflict between animals.
The zoo says it has taken steps in the past to address the issue as 16 baboons have moved to zoos in Paris and China since 2011. Attempts of birth control were abandoned several years ago after failing to produce the desired results.
Animals are regularly euthanized at European Zoos for a variety of reasons. Several cases in the past have sparked protests. For example, in 2014, when the Copenhagen Zoo killed a healthy two-year-old giraffe, they slaughtered the body in front of a crowd that contained children and gave it to the lion.
