Target: Bo Kjellson, CEO of Boras Djurpark animal park, Sweden
Goal: Do not euthanize innocent healthy animals to decrease zoo population or expenses.
A zoo in Sweden has killed nine baby lion cubs in the past six years for no reason other than that it could not afford to keep them. The CEO of Boras Djurpark, Bo Kjellson, seems to have no qualms about these senseless killings. It is the zoo’s policy to maintain breeding programs in order to ensure diversity in its wildlife, but when more animals of certain species are no longer needed, it is common for them to be killed. “If the animals cannot be moved to other zoos or if they are rejected by their group,” they are needlessly euthanized.
Kjellson stated, “It’s no secret in any way and we do not try to hide that we’re working this way,” and called this cruel and indifferent killing “a natural path for groups of lions.” Lions are listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Endangered Animals; but even for species that are not at risk of extinction, this zoo’s practice is inhumane and unacceptable. Sign below to demand that the zoo stop killing healthy animals.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear CEO Kjellson,
The flippancy and carelessness with which Boras Djurpark seems to regard the lives of its animals is cruel and inhumane. Euthanizing healthy animals simply because the zoo does not want or cannot afford so many of a species is not an acceptable solution.
Is is not a “natural path” for nine healthy lion cubs to be senselessly put down over the course of six years. If other zoos are unable to take these animals then perhaps there are sanctuaries that can, or perhaps circumstances will change over time. Killing baby lions is absolutely not the answer. I urge you to stop the needless killing of healthy and innocent animals at your zoo.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Karen Abbott/Smithsonian’s National Zoo