COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Saying it needed to prevent inbreeding, the Copenhagen Zoo killed a 2-year-old giraffe and fed its remains to lions as visitors watched, ignoring a petition signed by ...

This was long before the story of Marius, the giraffe fed to lions last Sunday at the Copenhagen Zoo, put carcass-feeding in the national headlines. “Let me get this straight,” I said in the bar.

While lions usually go for younger giraffes, it’s not unusual to attack an adult, Julian Fennessy, director of the nonprofit Giraffe Conservation Foundation, says in an email.