Danish zoo that culled giraffe kills family of lions

A zoo in Denmark that provoked outrage after putting down a healthy giraffe has killed a family of four lions to make way for a new young male lion.

Copenhagen Zoo says it "had to euthanise" two cubs and their parents after it failed to re-home them.

The 16-year-old male and 14-year-old female were nearing the end of their natural lives in captivity, it added.

Last month, the zoo killed a healthy giraffe because it was deemed surplus to requirements.

"Because of the pride of lions' natural structure and behaviour, the zoo has had to euthanise the two old lions and two young lions who were not old enough to fend for themselves," the zoo said in a statement.

According to zookeepers, the male cub "would have been killed by the new male lion as soon as he got the chance."

The zoo said it had asked other parks to take the 10-month-old cubs, but had received no offers.

The new male lion is due to arrive in the next few days and will be introduced to the zoo's two female lions who, born in 2012, have reached breeding age.

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Tiger Attack At Copenhagen Zoo

A man has died after suffering a tiger bite to the throat at a zoo in Copenhagen, Danish Police have confirmed.

The 21-year-old was discovered dead early this morning by a zookeper.

Police believe he climbed a low wall surrounding the den which contained three Siberian Tigers and entered a moat when inside the enclosure.

He was bitten on the thigh, chest, face and throat.

Lars Borg, a spokesman for the Copenhagen police, said investigators could not rule out suicide.

"He has been in the water and the animals must have seen that and attacked him," Mr Borg said.

Police have not released the man's identity but said he was a foreign national with a Danish residence permit.

Investigators are studying CCTV footage to establish how the man entered the park.

Steffen Straede, manager of the Copenhagen Zoo , said it is the first time in the zoo's 152-year history that such an incident has occured.

"If a person really wants to get in (there), we cannot prevent it from happening," he said.

He also said that there were no plans to reassess its security or to put the tigers down and a psychologist will talk to staff who found the body.

The park opened as usual this morning.

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