Rome Zoo - A Moral Dilemma

An interesting curiuosity:

Rome, August 30 - A baby giraffe born unexpectedly at Rome's zoo this month is to be transferred to a nature reserve in Africa, officials at the Rome Biopark announced on Wednesday .

Under a strict policy imposed by the city council, wild animals at Rome's zoo are never allowed to reproduce on the grounds that their young will be forced into an unnatural lifestyle .

Most of the animals that the zoo hosts were born elsewhere and then 'rescued' by the zoo authorities at a certain point in their lives .

In line with this policy two female giraffes were transferred last June from an overcrowded zoo in the Czech Republic. It was not known at the time that one of them was pregnant .

Giraffes who are expecting babies do not become noticeably fatter, so it was complete surprise on August 13 when a baby, weighing 70 kilos and measuring 170 cm from hoof to horns, was born. That left the zoo authorities with the problem of what to do with an animal they believed it unethical to keep .

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