The coronavirus pandemic is negatively impacting a variety of industries, including zoos.
Neumünster Zoo, located in Neumünster, Germany, has constructed a plan to remain in business while shuttered during the global health crisis: feed the animals to one another. The zoo’s director made the announcement this week, following pleas from the country’s animal sanctuaries to the government for a 100 million euro bailout to take care of the animals during quarantine.
“We’ve listed the animals we’ll have to slaughter first,” Verena Kaspari, director of Neumünster Zoo said, per BBC. Because the Neumünster Zoo is part of an association, it isn’t authorized to receive financial relief from Germany. The zoo has few other options.
Kaspari didn’t share which animals were listed first, adding that the “unpleasant” move might not even balance the zoo’s loss and is the last resort. She pointed out that penguins and seals need large quantities of fresh fish daily, and while other businesses can remain inactive, animals require daily feedings and enclosure maintenance.
“If it comes to it, I'll have to euthanize animals, rather than let them starve,” she said. She estimates that the zoo could lose around $200,000 this spring.
In addition to financial pressures, Berlin Zoo spokeswoman Philine Hachmeister said that the circumstances prove to be “really boring” for animals like seals and apes, who thrive off interaction with humans.
