Despite the ban on killing: Nuremberg Zoo wants to continue to feed chicks
Created: 01/07/2022, 02:36 PM
The Nuremberg zoo wants to continue to use male chicks as feed for certain animals.
© Jens Büttner / zb / dpa
Germany will ban the killing of male chicks from 2022.
The Nuremberg Zoo still wants to continue to use them as feed for other zoo animals.
Nuremberg - It has been forbidden to kill chicks in Germany since 2022.
The Nuremberg zoo * does not seem to care about the new law.
For many zoo animals they are valuable food, which is why they do not want to go without them, explains director Dag Encke in an interview with
inFranken.de
.
Birds of prey, meerkats or squirrel monkeys would sometimes feed on them.
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Nuremberg: Zoo director still wants chicks as a source of food despite the new law
Encke describes it as “sensible” to “use male chicks as feed after hatching” - provided they cannot be used for other purposes.
According to him, it would be right if all chicken farmers made sure that they were only fed to other animals.
Killing alone for
However, he does not advocate economic purposes.
The zoo * gets the chicks from a wholesaler, continues Encke.
He is confident that it will stay that way for the time being.
The wholesaler also purchases the chicks from abroad, he tells
infranken.de.
There is no good alternative to chicks.
According to Encke, mice are an option, but this involves a lot of work, as the animals first have to be bred and raised in a laborious manner.
In addition, double the amount would be required.
Two mice would be the weight of a chick.
Encke describes the ban on killing as merely a “moral advance” for the idea of animal welfare.
He does not see any practical advantage in this.
Government decides to end chick killing
Germany is the first country in the world where the killing of male chicks is prohibited.
The law has been in force since January 1, 2022.
In the future, new methods will be used to determine sex in the egg.
Male chicks should then not even hatch.
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