Overview

• The Verein der Tiergartenfreunde Nürnberg reaffirmed its solidarity with zoo management and praised decades of transparent communication about the baboons’ overcrowding crisis.
• The support association’s board and advisory council stated they understood and stood by the difficult choice to euthanize surplus Guinea baboons after rehoming and contraception efforts failed.
• Leading animal-welfare organizations, including PETA Deutschland and Deutscher Tierschutzbund, have filed criminal complaints alleging the zoo’s July cull of 12 healthy baboons violated Germany’s Animal Welfare Act.
• The Staatsanwaltschaft Nürnberg-Fürth continues its formal investigation into whether the zoo’s decision to kill the baboons for space contravened legal protections for animal welfare.
• Reports that some of the culled baboons were fed to predators have reignited debate over standard zoo population-management practices and ethical precedents.