Aalborg Zoo in northern Denmark has drawn international attention following a Facebook post inviting citizens to donate healthy domestic animals and livestock that are due to be euthanised, so that the zoo’s predators can be fed whole animals. The initiative, the zoo explained, promotes animal welfare and natural behaviour for its carnivores while reducing waste.
International reaction to a common Danish practice
While the zoo’s post received support from some local visitors, it triggered headlines in international media outlets such as BBC, CBS News, and The New York Times. The scale of the reaction surprised the zoo’s management. “We have always done this as long as the zoo has existed,” said Aalborg Zoo’s head zoologist Anette Sofie Warncke Nutzhorn. “It is a bit of a storm in a teacup.”
Feeding predators with whole animals is common practice in several Danish zoos. Copenhagen Zoo, for instance, receives about 50 horses annually for this purpose. Similar procedures are followed at Givskud Zoo and Odense Zoo, which also accept livestock or small domestic animals. Only healthy animals are accepted, and dogs and cats are explicitly excluded.
Animal welfare, ecology and public perception
According to Aalborg Zoo, the animals are euthanised humanely by trained staff before being used as food. This approach, the zoo argues, ensures better nutrition, dental health and digestive well-being for carnivores. Bones provide calcium, while fur helps clean teeth. It also allows zoos to educate visitors about ecosystems and the role of predators in the wild.
Despite the zoo’s explanations, the public response has been mixed. Some social media users expressed discomfort or misinterpreted the call as a request for people’s pets. In response, Nutzhorn clarified: “We are not interested in taking guinea pigs out of people’s cages.”
The situation recalls the 2014 case of Copenhagen Zoo‘s public dissection of Marius the giraffe, which also attracted widespread international criticism. As in that case, the current debate reflects diverging cultural attitudes towards animals, death and transparency in zoological management.
Domestic animals as zoo feed: ecological ethics or public taboo?
The debate raises broader ethical and ecological questions. From a sustainability perspective, using livestock already destined for euthanasia could be seen as a form of resource efficiency, akin to avoiding food waste. Yet for many international observers, especially where pets are seen primarily as companions, the idea remains controversial.
For now, Aalborg Zoo is standing by its practices. “We are here to communicate about nature and ecosystems,” Nutzhorn said, welcoming the debate as an opportunity to foster greater understanding of predators’ needs and the realities of animal care in zoos.
