[The killing of surplus and old animals in zoos]

The painless killing of animals in order to avoid considerable suffering has a legal basis and is sufficiently accepted by the society. The situation is, however, different when the matter concerns zoological gardens having on some occasions to put down apparently healthy animals. Since the natural populations of many species have almost been extinguished in the wild or are already eradicated, zoos play a prominent role in the ex-situ survival-breeding of many wild animals. This means that zoos often have self-supporting populations of species rather than only single individuals, as was frequently the case in the past. Such breeding also brings with it the possibility that animals will survive without the option of transferring them to other acceptable locations. In the wild, natural environmental factors prevent excessive population growth, whereas in zoos and in other protective reservations, such regulatory mechanisms are simply not existent. Such regulation can, however, often be achieved by animal transfers and other stock regulating measures. If these measures are not available the option of putting the animals down must be considered. Preventing suffering is of course the priority, as is demanded by zoos together with recognised animal protection organisations. This is compliant with German law and takes place for obvious and sensible reasons. The scientific zoological gardens organised in the German Zoo Directors Council discussed the problem of killing animals at the 1999 conference at Rostock and drafted a paper presenting its position on the subject. The paper argues that even under optimal husbandry conditions, while alternative options of breeding, planning and stabilisation of stock must be considered, the humane killing of animals will sometimes be unavoidable.