World Zoothanasia Day Date in the current year: February 9, 2025

The word “zoothanasia” is a portmanteau of “zoo” and “euthanasia”, but it has nothing to do with true euthanasia, which is mercy killing to eliminate pain and suffering. Animals may only euthanized when their quality of life is seriously impaired by injury or terminal illness. However, zoos, which have limited space and budgets for animals, often kill old, non-terminally ill, or otherwise “unwanted” animals to make room for younger animals that can breed and will attract more visitors.

Most zoos participate in international breeding programs to prevent inbreeding and maintain a genetically viable population. Animals that can no longer reproduce or are deemed unsuitable for the breeding program because they share too many genes with potential breeding partners may be killed if a suitable place cannot be found in another zoo.

For example, in 2014, a 2-year-old male giraffe named Marius was killed at the Copenhagen Zoo because he was deemed genetically unsuitable for future captive breeding. After the culling, his body was dissected and autopsied in a public education class and then fed to the zoo’s lions.

The culling of Marius raised an international public controversy. Although it did not violate the rules of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), many EAZA members and animal welfare organizations criticized the actions of the Copenhagen Zoo, if not for the culling itself, then for the subsequent public dissection and feeding to carnivores. And this is just one example; it is estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 animals are culled each year in European zoos alone.

World Zoothanasia Day was created by Dr Marc Bekoff (Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder who coined the term “zoothanasia”) and In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization dedicated to protecting the rights, welfare, and habitats of animals.

It is observed on February 9 because on that day in 2017, Packy the elephant was killed at the Oregon Zoo. At 54 years old at the time of his death, Packy was the oldest male Asian elephant in North America. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2013 and euthanized after veterinarians concluded that his tuberculosis was drug-resistant and further treatment would be futile. However, one of Packy’s keepers stated that the elephant was active and showed no signs of pain or discomfort from his illness, and IDA campaigned against his euthanasia. Coincidentally, Marius was also culled on February 9.

The main goal of World Zoothanasia Day is to raise public awareness of the horrific practice of unethical zoo killings and to call on zoos to become ethically responsible in their treatment of the animals they keep. It is marked by a minute of silence in memory of the victims of zoothanasia at noon local time and by rallies at zoos against zoothanasia.