Overview
- Twelve healthy Guinea baboons were shot on July 29 after the troop grew to more than 40 animals in an enclosure designed for 25 adults and juveniles.
- Two baboons died unexpectedly during inhalation anesthesia checks intended to identify pregnant females, a first in the zoo’s experience.
- The zoo was closed “for operational reasons” on the day of the cull as activists chained and glued themselves to the enclosure in protest.
- Pro Wildlife, Deutscher Tierschutzbund and other welfare and rights groups plan to file criminal complaints under Germany’s Animal Welfare Act.
- Tiergarten Nürnberg warns that annual culls of surplus baboons will continue in smaller numbers to control population growth.