Officials at Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark say they received death threats after the zoo killed a two-year-old giraffe and fed its remains to lions.

Copenhagen Zoo turned down offers from other zoos and €500,000 from a private individual to save the life of a healthy giraffe before killing and slaughtering it in front of children to follow inbreeding recommendations made by a European association.

Copenhagen Zoo has killed a healthy giraffe because of rules imposed by a European zoo association to deter inbreeding despite a wave of online protests to save it.