Copenhagen Zoo Kills Giraffe, Feeds Him To Lions As Children Watch [GRAPHIC PHOTOS]

Ignoring thousands of pleas for clemency, at least two wildlife parks that wanted to re-home him and an offer of £415,000 from a wealthy benefactor, Copenhagen Zoo went ahead with the killing of Marius the giraffe on Sunday morning.

After a bolt gun to the head, he was dissected publicly in front of a crowd of children then fed to the lions.

It was a bold statement of just how confident the zoo was in its decision to kill a perfectly healthy animal after less than two years of life.

The reason — his genes were too similar to other giraffes in a breeding programme run by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) – failed to convince furious animal rights campaigners and the zoo was deluged with complaints on social media.

Copenhagen Zoo noted on its Facebook page that there was “massive debate…about one of our giraffes”.

Its scientific director, Bengt Holst, said the zoo was working to maintain “a healthy giraffe population in European zoos”.

In pictures: Marius the giraffe skinned and fed to lions as children watch on (Warning: Graphic Images)