Rare zoo lion cubs poisoned...by zoo

[MattPSU]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6169742.stm">Rare zoo lion cubs poisoned

"Rare Abyssinian lion cubs are being poisoned at a zoo in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, and their bodies are then sold on to be stuffed.

The zoo, founded by Ethiopia's former Emperor Haile Selassie, says it poisons a number of cubs each year because it does not have the space or money to look after them."


As I honestly don't know, is this standard operating procedure for zoos?

[BreweryYardRat]

1. I highly doubt it.

They could give them away to breeding programs, especially since they're a rare sub-species.

This is just greed.

[acmavm]

2. There's probably a head zookeeper who's being paid a lot

of money for this.

[Richard Steele]

3. No, it's not SOP. It's certified BULLSHIT.

Any number of other Zoos or wealthy private foundations
would be VERY happy to keep those cubs alive, and pay
well to do it.
So, that alone tells me this is NOT just about money.

Not about a LACK of money to care for them, and not about whatever
small amount they are 'officially' paid for the bodies.
(What, is there a big demand for dead stuffed lion cubs? How ridiculous!)

I'll bet they are being killed for the BIG $$$ their
organs bring in Asia as traditional medicines. That's
the only explanation that makes sense to me.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. *crying* People can be so awful

[Squeech]

5. WTF?

Wouldn't the alleged medicinal value of the lion organs be compromised by the fact that they contain POISON? What am I missing here???

[Richard Steele]

6. Two Thoughts. A: Not necessarily; that depends upon the particular POISON.

Some of the most potent, fast-acting natural neurotoxins
are inherently unstable compounds. They break down into
harmless substances fairly quickly. It's generally SAFE
to eat an animal that died of snakebite.

The South American folks who discovered CURARE have used it
to kill large game for FOOD for untold centuries, with no
adverse affects to the consumer.

And several African cultures have a history of brewing
similarly-potent toxins. Stuff that will kill a 150-lb ungulate with
a blowgun dart-sized dose, but leave the animal edible
by the time you carry it home and cut it up.

Also, the METHOD makes a difference. Injecting something as
instantly lethal as, say, potassium cyanide directly into a carotid
artery will cause death so quickly that the poison never
makes it out of the brain. Toss the brain, the rest has no
poison in it.

................................................................

But my SECOND thought is: Since the "official story" is such
utter nonsense to begin with, I feel no need to assume that
the "poisoning" aspect is correct or truthful either.

Slaughtering these animals to harvest organs for medicinal
purposes is probably done (under ideal conditions) according
to some very timeworn formalized guidelines. Practically RITUALIZED,
you know?
So perhaps the "poisoning" story is a deliberate lie; a lie
covering for a REAL cause of death which would be a total
GIVEAWAY were it to become known.

I mean, they can't exactly just say "We feed them a special diet
for three days, bathe them in herbal extracts, and then hang them
over a brass bowl before cutting their throats", now can they?

[The Stranger]

7. Holy fuck -- is your question serious? SOP to kill zoo animals?

[Minnesota_Lib]

8. SOP? When I lived in Eureka, CA, oh so many years ago...

The most popular and beloved animals, by far, at the small local zoo were the bears.

The zoo received funding for renovations and one of the main upgrades was to be done on the bear enclosure. Arrangements had been made with another small zoo (I think in Santa Rosa or around there) to house the bears while their area was redone. Apparently the zookeeper thought it too expensive to transport the bears all the way to Santa Rosa--that money could be better spent on further renovations to their enclosure--so his idea to save the transport fees was to kill the bears....which he did without any approval from anyone. He just took it upon himself and went out and shot them one morning.

The public outrage was absolute and loud. What was this guy thinking? Why even renovate their enclosure if they are dead? As I recall, he was looking for a new job shortly thereafter. Hopefully he found something that didn't require a brain.

It would have been almost stupidly funny had it not been so sad and unnecessary. It still boggles my mind.