why-animals-do-the-thing

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

One of my favorite things about this blog as a community space is that y’all have conversations in the notes and they’re productive and helpful and genuinely positive. Creating a space where folk felt safe to ask questions and learn has always been a huge priority, and I love to see it.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Have you ever been to Newport Aquarium in Oregon? If so, have you met Skinny the seal? I love her so, so much and I'm planning to visit her again for my birthday in October :)

Literally last weekend! I think I do have some photos of Skinny. I’m still sorting through all my shots.

It’s a neat place, so much outdoors within the aquarium!

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Thank you so much for explaining all this!

I'm sure I'm probably not the first to send an ask about this, but did you see where a Danish zoo asked for people to donate animals they'd otherwise be euthanizing in order to feed their animals? I see a lot of people reacting really negatively to that and on an emotional/gut reaction level I understand why, but I also don't see an actual issue with this, and was curious about your thoughts on it.

I got a second ask on this topic, I'm going to paste it below and answer both at one.

"What is your take on the Danish Zoo asking people to donate unwanted pets to feed their animals? I’m in Australia and this is something unthinkable to me, no zoo here would ask for pets to feed lions so I wanted your perspective."

For anyone who missed it, here's what I think is one of the earliest pieces of reporting in English.

I can't get google translate to work on the text of the zoo's original IG post, but as interpreted by the media: the zoo is asking people to donate domestic and/or livestock animals in order to feed them out as (pre-killed) whole prey.

There's three things to discuss here, really. The practical/operations aspect of why they're asking, the emotional aspect, and the cultural differences involved. I can only really speak to the first two, so I'm hoping Danish readers will chime in about the latter.

The first thing to know is that feeding out whole prey or partial carcasses is really normal. It's important enrichment for carnivores, and it also has impacts on their jaw strength and the bone development in their skulls. In the US (which is the only country I can speak to knowledgeably), they're obtained different ways. Many whole prey animals are purchased from companies specifically breeding feeder animals - think like mice and rats and chicks. Larger animals are a little more complicated because they're expensive to buy. In many cases, especially for smaller facilities and sanctuaries, livestock that's going to be euthanized or culled is often donated to be used as food. I've seen it with cows, horses, and turkeys, and I think it happens with other species. To be clear, these donations are pretty closely vetted and are not sick with something that would be unhealthy for the carnivores: often they're old animals reaching end of life, or animals that have been injured and need to be let go. I don't know how larger urban zoos do it, but I know of smaller zoos and sanctuaries that will have the animals transported to them live and then butcher them themselves. So what the Aalborg zoo is doing is saying hey, we would like to feed out more whole prey, if you have an animal that you no longer want to keep (euthanasia in this sense seems implied, someone who is Dutch please check me), please consider donating it to us.

The problem is, right, that's a really hard thing to hear for the public. Especially if you're in another country and not looking at the original post in the original cultural context, instead encountering it through the Western media lens. I'm kind of surprised that's the way they decided to solicit donations - it makes me wonder what else is going on that they didn't to make the request privately to farmers or such, since that would be the US approach. Part of what makes the post so shocking is that it they asked for "pets" and not "livestock" or "farm animals", insofar as we know from the translation of the post. The idea of a pet has a level of emotional meaning that farm animals generally don't to many American (and probably other Western) readers. It's a very emotional thing to consider for anyone who has a close emotional bond with an animal.

Now, the aspect I can't comment well on is the cultural context of animal death and use in Denmark. I know that European zoos are much more casual about euthanasia for population management reasons, and that maybe there is less public distress over it compared to the US? Marius, the giraffe euthanized in 2014 who was then necropsied in front of the public for educational purposes, was at the Copenhagen Zoo. There seems to be different mentality in parts of Europe than in the US around animal management - and this is not an implication that it's ethically worse or anything - but I don't know how it manifests. I'd guess, though, it's part of why the zoo felt comfortable making a public request of their audience.

To follow up, I did find this article about a woman who donated a pony to the zoo in 2020, and it's in line with my interpretation of the situation. Here's a quote from the article:

"A 44-year-old Danish woman revealed that she once decided to donate her daughter's 22-year-old pony to Aalborg Zoo to be euthanised and fed to lions due to the pet's severe eczema and excruciating pain. Her comments came amid recent backlash against Aalborg Zoo after it asked people to donate small and healthy pets to be used as food for captive predators. The woman, named Pernille Sohl, told The Times that in 2020, she decided that Chicago 57, a German riding pony, had to be put down. While speaking to the outlet, she said she understood how the decision may sound "very dramatic and bizarre". However, the animals being sent to the zoo were "going to be put down anyway". "But they are going to be put down anyway, and it is not like they are alive when they are given to the predators," Sohl added.

The article also adds that so far in 2025, the Aalborg Zoo received "22 horses, 53 chickens, 137 rabbits, and 18 guinea pigs as donations." So clearly this isn't a new program (those can't have all been donated in the week since the Instagram post) and it's something a decent number of people are contributing to. I would guess it's almost, if not entirely, animals that are at end of life for various reasons, and their owners would prefer they have value in death. I don't find that shocking or extremely upsetting.

But, of course, the media doesn't understand how the field operates and can't really be bothered to take the time to find and provide that context. So they portray it through a lends of "how weird" and "scandal" and it ends up represented as something that's understandably distressing to a lay reader.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I was looking for a pic of a newt, took a wrong turn and ended up discovering Perenties. Absolutely delighted. What a creature !

They’re very lovely! Such cool lizards.

Unfortunately I don’t have newts on the site or in my files yet - the closest I have is a very blobby salamander. I will see if I can find some, although I don’t know what timeline that would be on.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Please reblog this version! I erroneously stated that the Copenhagen Zoo was in the Netherlands, not Denmark, and have fixed it.

I'm sure I'm probably not the first to send an ask about this, but did you see where a Danish zoo asked for people to donate animals they'd otherwise be euthanizing in order to feed their animals? I see a lot of people reacting really negatively to that and on an emotional/gut reaction level I understand why, but I also don't see an actual issue with this, and was curious about your thoughts on it.

I got a second ask on this topic, I'm going to paste it below and answer both at one.

"What is your take on the Danish Zoo asking people to donate unwanted pets to feed their animals? I’m in Australia and this is something unthinkable to me, no zoo here would ask for pets to feed lions so I wanted your perspective."

For anyone who missed it, here's what I think is one of the earliest pieces of reporting in English.

I can't get google translate to work on the text of the zoo's original IG post, but as interpreted by the media: the zoo is asking people to donate domestic and/or livestock animals in order to feed them out as (pre-killed) whole prey.

There's three things to discuss here, really. The practical/operations aspect of why they're asking, the emotional aspect, and the cultural differences involved. I can only really speak to the first two, so I'm hoping Danish readers will chime in about the latter.

The first thing to know is that feeding out whole prey or partial carcasses is really normal. It's important enrichment for carnivores, and it also has impacts on their jaw strength and the bone development in their skulls. In the US (which is the only country I can speak to knowledgeably), they're obtained different ways. Many whole prey animals are purchased from companies specifically breeding feeder animals - think like mice and rats and chicks. Larger animals are a little more complicated because they're expensive to buy. In many cases, especially for smaller facilities and sanctuaries, livestock that's going to be euthanized or culled is often donated to be used as food. I've seen it with cows, horses, and turkeys, and I think it happens with other species. To be clear, these donations are pretty closely vetted and are not sick with something that would be unhealthy for the carnivores: often they're old animals reaching end of life, or animals that have been injured and need to be let go. I don't know how larger urban zoos do it, but I know of smaller zoos and sanctuaries that will have the animals transported to them live and then butcher them themselves. So what the Aalborg zoo is doing is saying hey, we would like to feed out more whole prey, if you have an animal that you no longer want to keep (euthanasia in this sense seems implied, someone who is Dutch please check me), please consider donating it to us.

The problem is, right, that's a really hard thing to hear for the public. Especially if you're in another country and not looking at the original post in the original cultural context, instead encountering it through the Western media lens. I'm kind of surprised that's the way they decided to solicit donations - it makes me wonder what else is going on that they didn't to make the request privately to farmers or such, since that would be the US approach. Part of what makes the post so shocking is that it they asked for "pets" and not "livestock" or "farm animals", insofar as we know from the translation of the post. The idea of a pet has a level of emotional meaning that farm animals generally don't to many American (and probably other Western) readers. It's a very emotional thing to consider for anyone who has a close emotional bond with an animal.

Now, the aspect I can't comment well on is the cultural context of animal death and use in Denmark. I know that European zoos are much more casual about euthanasia for population management reasons, and that maybe there is less public distress over it compared to the US? Marius, the giraffe euthanized in 2014 who was then necropsied in front of the public for educational purposes, was at the Copenhagen Zoo. There seems to be different mentality in parts of Europe than in the US around animal management - and this is not an implication that it's ethically worse or anything - but I don't know how it manifests. I'd guess, though, it's part of why the zoo felt comfortable making a public request of their audience.

To follow up, I did find this article about a woman who donated a pony to the zoo in 2020, and it's in line with my interpretation of the situation. Here's a quote from the article:

"A 44-year-old Danish woman revealed that she once decided to donate her daughter's 22-year-old pony to Aalborg Zoo to be euthanised and fed to lions due to the pet's severe eczema and excruciating pain. Her comments came amid recent backlash against Aalborg Zoo after it asked people to donate small and healthy pets to be used as food for captive predators. The woman, named Pernille Sohl, told The Times that in 2020, she decided that Chicago 57, a German riding pony, had to be put down. While speaking to the outlet, she said she understood how the decision may sound "very dramatic and bizarre". However, the animals being sent to the zoo were "going to be put down anyway". "But they are going to be put down anyway, and it is not like they are alive when they are given to the predators," Sohl added.

The article also adds that so far in 2025, the Aalborg Zoo received "22 horses, 53 chickens, 137 rabbits, and 18 guinea pigs as donations." So clearly this isn't a new program (those can't have all been donated in the week since the Instagram post) and it's something a decent number of people are contributing to. I would guess it's almost, if not entirely, animals that are at end of life for various reasons, and their owners would prefer they have value in death. I don't find that shocking or extremely upsetting.

But, of course, the media doesn't understand how the field operates and can't really be bothered to take the time to find and provide that context. So they portray it through a lends of "how weird" and "scandal" and it ends up represented as something that's understandably distressing to a lay reader.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I'm sure I'm probably not the first to send an ask about this, but did you see where a Danish zoo asked for people to donate animals they'd otherwise be euthanizing in order to feed their animals? I see a lot of people reacting really negatively to that and on an emotional/gut reaction level I understand why, but I also don't see an actual issue with this, and was curious about your thoughts on it.

I got a second ask on this topic, I'm going to paste it below and answer both at one.

"What is your take on the Danish Zoo asking people to donate unwanted pets to feed their animals? I’m in Australia and this is something unthinkable to me, no zoo here would ask for pets to feed lions so I wanted your perspective."

For anyone who missed it, here's what I think is one of the earliest pieces of reporting in English.

I can't get google translate to work on the text of the zoo's original IG post, but as interpreted by the media: the zoo is asking people to donate domestic and/or livestock animals in order to feed them out as (pre-killed) whole prey.

There's three things to discuss here, really. The practical/operations aspect of why they're asking, the emotional aspect, and the cultural differences involved. I can only really speak to the first two, so I'm hoping Danish readers will chime in about the latter.

The first thing to know is that feeding out whole prey or partial carcasses is really normal. It's important enrichment for carnivores, and it also has impacts on their jaw strength and the bone development in their skulls. In the US (which is the only country I can speak to knowledgeably), they're obtained different ways. Many whole prey animals are purchased from companies specifically breeding feeder animals - think like mice and rats and chicks. Larger animals are a little more complicated because they're expensive to buy. In many cases, especially for smaller facilities and sanctuaries, livestock that's going to be euthanized or culled is often donated to be used as food. I've seen it with cows, horses, and turkeys, and I think it happens with other species. To be clear, these donations are pretty closely vetted and are not sick with something that would be unhealthy for the carnivores: often they're old animals reaching end of life, or animals that have been injured and need to be let go. I don't know how larger urban zoos do it, but I know of smaller zoos and sanctuaries that will have the animals transported to them live and then butcher them themselves. So what the Aalborg zoo is doing is saying hey, we would like to feed out more whole prey, if you have an animal that you no longer want to keep (euthanasia in this sense seems implied, someone who is Dutch please check me), please consider donating it to us.

The problem is, right, that's a really hard thing to hear for the public. Especially if you're in another country and not looking at the original post in the original cultural context, instead encountering it through the Western media lens. I'm kind of surprised that's the way they decided to solicit donations - it makes me wonder what else is going on that they didn't to make the request privately to farmers or such, since that would be the US approach. Part of what makes the post so shocking is that it they asked for "pets" and not "livestock" or "farm animals", insofar as we know from the translation of the post. The idea of a pet has a level of emotional meaning that farm animals generally don't to many American (and probably other Western) readers. It's a very emotional thing to consider for anyone who has a close emotional bond with an animal.

Now, the aspect I can't comment well on is the cultural context of animal death and use in Denmark. I know that European zoos are much more casual about euthanasia for population management reasons, and that maybe there is less public distress over it compared to the US? Marius, the giraffe euthanized in 2014 who was then necropsied in front of the public for educational purposes, was at the Copenhagen Zoo. There seems to be different mentality in parts of Europe than in the US around animal management - and this is not an implication that it's ethically worse or anything - but I don't know how it manifests. I'd guess, though, it's part of why the zoo felt comfortable making a public request of their audience.

To follow up, I did find this article about a woman who donated a pony to the zoo in 2020, and it's in line with my interpretation of the situation. Here's a quote from the article:

"A 44-year-old Danish woman revealed that she once decided to donate her daughter's 22-year-old pony to Aalborg Zoo to be euthanised and fed to lions due to the pet's severe eczema and excruciating pain. Her comments came amid recent backlash against Aalborg Zoo after it asked people to donate small and healthy pets to be used as food for captive predators. The woman, named Pernille Sohl, told The Times that in 2020, she decided that Chicago 57, a German riding pony, had to be put down. While speaking to the outlet, she said she understood how the decision may sound "very dramatic and bizarre". However, the animals being sent to the zoo were "going to be put down anyway". "But they are going to be put down anyway, and it is not like they are alive when they are given to the predators," Sohl added.

The article also adds that so far in 2025, the Aalborg Zoo received "22 horses, 53 chickens, 137 rabbits, and 18 guinea pigs as donations." So clearly this isn't a new program (those can't have all been donated in the week since the Instagram post) and it's something a decent number of people are contributing to. I would guess it's almost, if not entirely, animals that are at end of life for various reasons, and their owners would prefer they have value in death. I don't find that shocking or extremely upsetting.

But, of course, the media doesn't understand how the field operates and can't really be bothered to take the time to find and provide that context. So they portray it through a lends of "how weird" and "scandal" and it ends up represented as something that's understandably distressing to a lay reader.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

You posting the Oregon Zoo elephant crew in the photo repository reminded me: here's Chendra Hay Indulgence from when my brother and I came to see Tula-Tu

What a great action shot! Love it.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I’m going to pop in with a quick note here that in this year of 2025, whether a zoo is AZA or not is really not a singular indicator of if a zoological facility is ethical or acceptable to visit. San Francisco, for instance, is in the middle of a shitload of scandal based on animal health and safety issues going back years, and afaik AZA hasn’t said a peep or done any visible oversight prior to the blow-up.

I’m not mad at either person in this thread, to be clear, but I need to thump this topic a little because I’m very, very tired that this perspective on the zoological industry hasn’t evolved yet.

Just because a facility isn’t AZA does not guarantee it is bad. I can’t speak directly to Tanganyika’s animal care - I haven’t been there since before the pandemic - but a lot of colleagues in the field I respect think well of them. I’m not personally comfortable with all of their encounters (hands on primate stuff) but they’re legal and it doesn’t mean the animals are inherently abused in the process. Also, do you like clouded leopards? I counted the studbook once and I think Tanganyika is responsible for the existence of over half the US studbook over the last few decades because they’re a really finicky cat to breed. One of their upper management has been spearheading collecting data and advocating for equitable pay for zoo staff all over the country for years. This sort of complex mix of good and iffy and not great occurs at every zoo and aquarium - but members of the public only have a view into part of the equation.

We need to let go for this “AZA good, everyone else shitty” idea. It’s literally just a marketing slogan you’ve been taught to accept as truth. I can cite that directly back to the Director of AZA. There is so much nuance to how zoos and aquariums operate that a reductive assessment of quality and ethics based on which political games a facility plays is going to lead you wrong more often than not.

Also, while I’m on the soapbox, “roadside zoo” is a dogwhistle for a moral stance that communicates nothing concrete about a facility. It has never had a real definition, intentionally, because it lets activist groups call out facilities and say they’ve got bad vibes without having to cite any sources. Criticize a place you’re uncomfortable with all you want, but please use real words with real information value to do so.

The rhino video:

Tagnanyika wildlife park is a shady "zoo" and not AZA accredited. Just so you're aware.

oh yikes :/ Yeah, taking a look at their website has been very telling. Thank you.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Taxa update: Asian Elephants

For World Elephant Day, I've brought you: moar elephants!

There's now three pages on the site for Asian elephants: males, females (and calves), and a separate page for the singular Bornean elephant in the United States.

I've added a bunch of photos to each page... including a month-old calf! Enjoy.

Artists creating derivative or transformative works (without AI) have blanket permission to use these and all photos in the repository as references, including works that will/may be sold.

The Animal Photo Reference Repository is an independent, permanently open-access project and funded entirely by donations, please consider contributing if you can!

**Patreon** -- **Ko-Fi**

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

New Taxa Added: Auks!

The site's first sort-of-seabirds! We've got:

Common Murres:

Horned Puffins:

Tufted Puffins:

Artists creating derivative or transformative works (without AI) have blanket permission to use these and all photos in the repository as references, including works that will/may be sold.

The Animal Photo Reference Repository is an independent, permanently open-access project and funded entirely by donations, please consider contributing if you can!

**Patreon** -- **Ko-Fi**

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Poll time because I’m curious about a thing. I’ve been noodling on a topic for over a year but haven’t written anything yet…

Respond please without googling or asking anyone! I’m looking to see what the American zoo-going public generally remembers/takes away from AZA zoo visits.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Y’all, I promise, this is not a trick question (I’ve gotten a bunch of comments to that effect and when has that ever been my brand)! It’s really open-ended for a reason, but not because I want to mess with you or lead you to certain answers.

The commentary folk are leaving in the notes is so, so interesting and helpful, by the way. But definitely cast your vote before reading the notes!

Poll time because I’m curious about a thing. I’ve been noodling on a topic for over a year but haven’t written anything yet…

Respond please without googling or asking anyone! I’m looking to see what the American zoo-going public generally remembers/takes away from AZA zoo visits.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Poll time because I’m curious about a thing. I’ve been noodling on a topic for over a year but haven’t written anything yet…

Respond please without googling or asking anyone! I’m looking to see what the American zoo-going public generally remembers/takes away from AZA zoo visits.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Poll time because I’m curious about a thing. I’ve been noodling on a topic for over a year but haven’t written anything yet…

Respond please without googling or asking anyone! I’m looking to see what the American zoo-going public generally remembers/takes away from AZA zoo visits.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Poll time because I’m curious about a thing. I’ve been noodling on a topic for over a year but haven’t written anything yet…

Respond please without googling or asking anyone! I’m looking to see what the American zoo-going public generally remembers/takes away from AZA zoo visits.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

New Photos Added: Tigers!

Okay, so I'm a day late for International Tiger Day... but hopefully 400+ new photos of three species of tigers makes up for it??

Amur Tigers got 200+ new photos (and at least four new individuals!)

Malayan Tigers got 105 new photos:

Sumatran Tigers got 100+ new photos, and one new individual:

Artists creating derivative or transformative works (without AI) have blanket permission to use these and all photos in the repository as references, including works that will/may be sold.

The Animal Photo Reference Repository is an independent, permanently open-access project and funded entirely by donations, please consider contributing if you can!

**Patreon** -- **Ko-Fi**

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Pretty much this.

Plus: this comment about needing a zoo intern as “bait” was posted while telling a story about shooting at a specific facility - specifically, at a facility where someone in leadership has lost a coworker and close friend in a fatal big cat incident. I don’t know when the photographer’s story was from - maybe it was taken years ago, before that exec came to the zoo - but posting it now, with that person on staff, is gross and grossly inconsiderate.

It’s kind of telling that when I commented on Facebook someone told me I’d lost my sense of fun and zoo people appreciate dark humor. Except, y’know, the people for whom it isn’t a joke anymore.

Friends don’t let friends make jokes about zookeepers getting killed/eaten by tigers. Or other big cats.

This is not the post I wanted to make for International Tiger Day, but it’s apparently the post I feel compelled to make. A big name photographer decided to make a joke in a post today about maybe needing to use an intern to bait a tiger into approaching for a photo and I just… I’m still upset over an hour after reading it.

It seems kinda silly, right? Like those are really common jokes, right? Especially after Tiger King and shit.

But guys, I’ve seen up close what happens when a facility has a fatality involving big cats. I know people at multiple facilities who have lost colleagues (and in some cases, they were interns). It is horrific and traumatic and people carry it with them for the rest of their lives. The folk I know went on to become staunch advocates for better safety practices - which is an incredible, important thing, and which also means they make a choice to relive that trauma endlessly in front of their peers in an attempt to prevent anything similar from happening to someone else.

It really bothers me that our general online/media culture has decided that zookeeper fatalities are okay to joke about. It’s not. It’s disrespectful to the person who died and it is incredibly unkind to their colleagues and peers and friends. These days, I’m very quick to push back on jokes like that - just a quick, hey, we don’t do that here, that’s not cool - and I guess I’m asking y’all to join me in that.

I don’t have a closing statement, I’m just distressed by the whole thing. I’ll probably post some cute tiger photos on the repository site this afternoon.