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The South African SPCA is suing the people responsible for the death of a blindfolded giraffe who smashed his head on a bridge while being transported in a trailer on a highway near Johannesburg.

One way to prevent tragic accidents with wild animals is to not move them in the first place!  The news media did not report on why these giraffes were being transported, but I can’t  help but think they were kidnapped from the wild for a zoo or another commercial enterprise.  To learn more about the inherent cruelty of zoos and find out how you can help, please visit Last Chance For Animals.

Worldwide outrage didn’t stop the Copenhagen Zoo from killing a healthy baby giraffe named Marius “to prevent inbreeding.” Citing animal welfare and inbreeding concerns, the zoo also refused to send Marius to one of the other zoos that volunteered to take him. According to CNN, the giraffe was killed with a rifle and “dismembered in front of an audience that included children and fed to the zoo’s lions, tigers and leopards.” The Copehagen Zoo described Marius’ death as “euthanasia,” which is defined as “the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.” But Marius was healthy. He should never have been shot in the head with a rifle.

Wild animals belong in the wild, not in zoos behind bars or in enclosures. The “conservation” and “education” claims used by zoos are inaccurate, but, even if true, they wouldn’t justify the lifetime imprisonment of animals. Please encourage people in your network to boycott the zoo and learn about how wild animals really live by observing them in the wild or by watching wildlife documentaries on TV.