The director of the Zoo in Nuremberg received dozens of threats, including death, after the institution decided to euthanize 12 baboons due to overcrowding.
Dag Encke, director of the Nuremberg Zoo, threatened with photo death: X
Dag Encke, the director of the Nuremberg Zoo, was the target of numerous threats after the institution decided to euthanize 12 baboons. The measure was justified by the lack of adequate space for animals and the impossibility of relocating them.
“Ten of the threats received were concrete and reported the authorityR ”, the management of the zoos in the German city in the south of the country said on Tuesday. Dozens of threatening, vague, messages were sent through social networks, e-mail or letters.
Not only the main director was targeted, but also the deputy director, Jorg Beckmann, along with other employees of the zoos. All the threats considered serious were submitted to the police.
Police are investigating over 170 messages
“Currently, we analyze about 170 messages received from all over the country to determine if they contain elements of a criminal nature.”said a police spokesman in the Mittelfranken region, the Land of Bavaria, according to Agerpres.
The messages, coming by post, e-mail or social platforms, are centralized and evaluated by the teams at the Nuremberg Police headquarters.
The decision of euthanasia, motivated by lack of space
Last week, the Nuremberg Zoo announced that she had to euthanize 12 baboons due to lack of space, a decision that triggered heated controversy. The peasantry of these primates was, according to the zoos, overcrowded for a long time, which made it impossible to ensure conditions in accordance with the animal welfare norms.
“It was not possible to relocate the baboons in other centers, and the attempts to control the reproduction by contraceptive methods failed”, The zoo's management transmitted.
The case remains in the attention of the authorities and the public opinion, against the background of the debates on the ethics of decisions in the institutions that host animals.
