Stop the plan to kill baboons in Nuremberg!
A coalition of six animal and species protection organizations has made an open appeal to the environmental committee of the city of Nuremberg.
They are demanding that politicians prevent the killing of several healthy baboons at Nuremberg Zoo.
According to its own statements, the zoo plans to shoot the animals in the enclosure in order to create space and be able to continue breeding.
The planned shooting of healthy baboons is a crime that must be prevented. Otherwise, our criminal complaint is already prepared, emphasizes Laura Zodrow of Pro Wildlife . A dangerous example is being set with the baboons – it won't stop with this one species once this practice of killing unwanted zoo animals is established.
Decades of breeding without a plan leads to a lack of space.
Nuremberg Zoo has been breeding Guinea baboons for decades without a viable plan for managing the offspring. As a result, an enclosure originally designed for 25 animals now houses over 40. The zoo now intends to shoot the excess baboons. The German Animal Welfare Federation, the German Association for Animal Welfare Law, PETA Germany, Pro Wildlife, and Four Paws are jointly appealing to the city council's environmental committee to prevent this.
James Brückner, head of the species conservation department at the German Animal Welfare Federation, explains: “We demand that the city of Nuremberg, as the operator of the zoo, fulfill its constitutional mandate to protect animals and find a solution other than killing healthy animals .” Zoos have a responsibility to find alternative solutions – be it by transferring animals to other facilities, using contraception, or modifying their husbandry practices. “Killing healthy animals as a management method is a disgrace for an institution that has dedicated itself to species conservation,” adds Torsten Schmidt from the Federation Against Animal Abuse.
Enclosed hunting in the monkey enclosure
Animal rights activists are particularly concerned by the zoo director's announcement that he intends to shoot the animals in the enclosure. "As primates, baboons are among our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. They are intelligent and highly social," says biologist Dr. Yvonne Würz of PETA Germany. "It is almost unimaginable the suffering they will endure if they have to witness their closest relatives being shot dead before their very eyes."
A threatened crime must be prevented.
The German Legal Society for Animal Welfare Law (DJGT) has therefore called on the responsible veterinary office to intervene. "The veterinary authority is obligated to issue an administrative order pursuant to Section 16a Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 of the Animal Welfare Act, prohibiting the zoo director from carrying out the planned killing of the baboons at Nuremberg Zoo," explains Dr. Barbara Felde of the DJGT.
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