Did You Ever Wonder What Became of Dead Zoo Animals?

Going to the Zoo

Throughout human history, humans have exploited animals for our benefit; we’ve hunted them, domesticated them, kept them as pets, or put them on display for entertainment purposes. For the last two centuries, we’ve been keeping wild animals in wildlife parks and zoos for study and to support conservation efforts. But what happens to these animals once they pass away? Is there a cemetery for zoo animals?

Are they just cremated, and their ash disposed of, or do they continue to serve a purpose long after they’d taken their last breaths?

The oldest zoo—or rather, menagerie—that we know about was located in Hierakonpolis in Egypt in or around 3500 BC. Back in 2009, archaeologists uncovered the remains of this ancient menagerie and discovered that the pharaohs used to keep different kinds of animals in separate enclosures. This included 10 dogs, hartebeest, elephants, hippos, baboons, and 6 different wild cats. Archaeologists would uncover the remains of up to 112 animals buried in the same cemetery that had been reserved for the city’s elite, and determined that they’d been buried alongside members of the royal family and their servants.

It’s speculated that just like the pharaoh’s servants, these animals had all been killed shortly after the pharaoh died. The archaeologists also note that these animals were buried in the same way as the human servants—their organs were removed and placed in clay pots, and their bodies were wrapped up in reed mats and linen. They were buried in marked graves, and the pots containing their organs were placed in their graves as well.

From 283–246 BC, the Egyptian Pharaoh, Ptolemy II, is known to have kept a collection of wild and exotic animals in the city of Alexandria, and we know that he had a particular interest in African elephants, which he imported from Ethiopia. During the reign of Ptolemy IV, the descendants of these elephants were turned into war elephants, but they disappeared from historical records around 217 BC after a devastating defeat at the hands of the Seleucid King Antiochus III and his Indian war elephants.

Still, the menagerie of the Ptolemies is thought to have existed until the end of the reign of Ptolemy VII in the 2nd century BC—although by then, the main purpose of the menagerie seems to have been to house a collection of pheasants. It’s also speculated that a herd of giraffes that used to be kept in Alexandria had been a gift to Julius Caesar from Cleopatra in 46 BC. It was the first time in recorded history that a giraffe had been seen in Europe, and following their arrival in Rome, they became known as “camelopardalis”, or camelopards.

The elite of both Roman and Greek societies are also known to have kept private menageries as status symbols, or to have tamed wild animals to keep as pets. These included flamingos, peacocks, cranes, quails, colourful pigeons from Africa, parrots, fawns, bear cubs, a type of monkey known only as a ‘tityrus’, baboons, leopards, tigers, and lions. And animals such as bears, tigers, lions, bulls, elephants, rhinos, hippos, stags, and crocodiles were forced to fight each other as entertainment in the Roman Games, or were burned alive during religious ceremonies as offerings to the gods.

Alexander the Great is known to have captured several of the exotic animals he encountered, including parrots and orangutans, and he then had them sent back to Greece, where his tutor, Aristotle, studied them.

Aristotle is known to have studied and classified more than 500 animal species, which included several hundred species of fish, and he is considered to be the “Father of Zoology”. He grouped these animals into eight groups according to visible anatomy, reproduction, habitat, and behaviour, and travelled extensively to observe them. Throughout his research, he also examined the internal anatomy of over 100 species, and his detailed descriptions laid the groundwork for modern comparative anatomy.

One of the longest-running menageries in Europe was the one located at the Tower of London. In 1235, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II gave King Henry III three lions as a gift. King Henry then ordered that the lions should be housed at the Tower of London. They were kept in bare alcoves that had been closed off with iron bars, and they would later be joined by an African elephant, which was a gift from the King of France, and a polar bear, which was gifted to King Henry by the King of Norway in 1252, and was reportedly allowed to hunt for fish in the River Thames.

Over the next 600 years, the menagerie at the Tower of London was expanded, and it became home to several more lions, leopards, tigers, cheetahs, baboons, wild cats, brown bears, monkeys, wolves, hyenas, jackals, crocodiles, and zebras. When these animals passed away, they were either buried on the castle grounds or given to a taxidermist so that they could be stuffed and their bodies put on display. Others were processed and turned into meat, leather, or fur, or were handed over to physicians or scientists who wanted to dissect them. The menagerie was eventually closed down in 1836, and the remaining animals were then transferred to the Zoological Gardens in London.

The Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes also has a fascinating origin story. During the French Revolution, it was decided that all of the wild animals that were being kept by the fallen aristocrats should be confiscated and either taken to the menagerie in Versailles or killed and given to scientists at the Museum of Natural History in Paris for their research.

But scientists at the museum reportedly decided to keep the animals alive, and part of the botanical gardens—or Jardin des Plantes—on the museum grounds was converted into a menagerie. When the menagerie at Versailles was later destroyed, the animals that had been kept there were also moved to the menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes. The menagerie was open to the public from the start, and by 1830, it had the largest collection of exotic animals in Europe. It also didn’t take long for them to follow the Zoological Gardens of London’s example by focusing on scientific research and conservation, instead of simple preservation and entertainment.

Of course, while cities like Paris, London, Dublin, and Antwerp developed their own zoos, travelling zoos also became fashionable by the mid-19th century. A famous example is the Ménagerie Pianet, which travelled through France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Belgium from 1843 until 1903. Functioning much like a circus, the animals were put on display during the day, and at night, animal tamers would put on a show for captive audiences. Top attractions included lions, tigers, leopards, elephants, bears and camels, but could also include various kinds of monkeys, apes, giraffes—which were considered to be rare—and in some more controversial cases, human attractions from places like South America or Africa.

These travelling zoos tended to gain a bad reputation due to the number of accidents that took place during their performances, which usually resulted in the deaths of either the animals or the animal tamers, and resulted in large towns and cities banning the travelling zoos from entering their jurisdictions.

But these travelling zoos also presented an array of opportunities for scientists and artists who weren’t able to travel to the zoological gardens in Paris and London. Instead, they could invite these zoos to come to them for a set fee, enabling them to study the animals at their leisure, or even purchase them from these zoos. Some of them also made money by selling the carcasses or pelts of their animals to museums of natural history or universities for study, once again proving that zoos were always a source of scientific discovery.

The Modern Zoo

Initially, naturalists and biologists like Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, and his grandson, Julian Huxley, used the Zoological Gardens in London as a ‘living laboratory’. Zoos not only enabled these scientists to study the animals’ behaviour and movement while they were alive, but once they passed away, their bodies were dissected and studied further. According to zoo historian Catherine de Courcy—

“Their interest was in studying the animals while they were alive and, more particularly, getting hold of them when they were dead. In the 1830s, the laws concerning [human] cadavers for medical use changed. Up until the early 1830s, you had to rob graves unless you were part of one of the big medical institutions, so getting your hands on the corpse of a primate without having to rob a grave was quite something.”

Zoos also enabled naturalists to collect and study endangered animals in an attempt to conserve their species before they went extinct. Examples include the quagga, which was a subspecies of the plains zebra, the Tasmanian tiger, passenger pigeons, and the Western black rhinoceros. However, in all of those instances, science failed to save them, and the last known members of their species died in captivity.

But zoos have helped to save several others, such as Przewalski’s horse, the last known wild horse species. The last wild members of their species died in the 1960s, but just over a dozen of them lived in zoos all over Europe and North America. A breeding program was initiated, and in the 1990s, a herd of Przewalski’s horse was reintroduced to the wild. Other examples of animals that were saved from extinction are the California condor, the European bison, the Wyoming toad, the black-footed ferret, and the Arabian Oryx.

However, back in the late 19th century, zoos looked nothing like the zoos we know today. The animals were mostly left on display and were housed in bare, iron cages that were just big enough for the animals to lie down in. The mortality rate in these zoos was high, and it took zoologists decades to realise the importance of implementing proper habitats, specialised diets, and routine medical care for their animals if they wanted them to thrive.

Over the last century, modern zoos have gone from keeping animals locked up in small cages to building large habitats for them to live in. They also aim to provide their animals with more enrichment and social activities to support their mental well-being. This includes keeping them in larger social groups, allowing them to hunt their own food when possible, teaching them tricks and having them perform for the public, or allowing them to breed and take care of their young.

Some zoos also provide the public with live feeds of their animals, so that we are able to witness them give birth, lounge around in the sun, or just play and enjoy themselves from the comfort of our own homes. Examples include Bao Bao, a great panda who was born at the Smithsonian National Zoo, and whose early life was live-streamed for four years until her transfer to China in 2017.

And then there is Wellington, Edward, and Annie, three rockhopper penguins from the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, who were filmed as they went on a tour of the aquarium during the COVID-19 Lockdown in 2020.

And as of writing, you can watch Bao Li and Qing Bao play around their enclosure at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, or watch the Naked Mole Rats devour their leafy greens, run around their tunnels, or care for their queen. The Edinburgh Zoo has livestreams of its penguins, tigers, lions, giraffes, and koalas, and the San Diego Zoo has livestreams of its polar bears, platypuses, condors, and red pandas.

Another famous zoo animal was April the Giraffe, whose pregnancy was livestreamed on YouTube in 2017 by the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York. The announcement of the imminent arrival of her calf went viral in February, and an estimated 1.2 million people watched her give birth to a male calf named Tajiri on the 15th of April 2017. The video of Tajiri’s birth went on to have a total viewership of 232 million between February and May 2017.

But even though animals in modern zoos are known to live longer than their wild counterparts, they still pass away from either disease or natural causes, and then it’s up to the zoo to dispose of their remains responsibly.

Rest in Pieces

In most countries, the remains of zoo animals are first sent off for a necropsy so that a cause of death can be established. This also enables the zoo to determine whether or not the animal who’d passed away was carrying an infectious disease that could spread to the other animals, in which case the zoo will be placed into quarantine.

Once the cause of death has been established and a report has been drawn up, the zoo will decide what they’re going to do with the animal’s remains. Veterinary Schools will often use the carcasses for educational purposes, or request to have the horns, antlers, or the hide. Sometimes, the zoo might decide to keep the animal’s pelt, which will then be sent to a taxidermist. Sometimes, the remains are sent off to other universities or scientific labs for further study.

According to Dr David Gasper from the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine—

“A lot of the species have pre-existing requests so that when an animal dies, we know that this tissue or organ can be put it on ice and sent to the researcher right away because they’re doing a research project.”

Once all the requested parts have been removed, the animal’s remains are prepared for disposal. In the US, the remains of zoo animals are disposed of in four different ways: cremation, burial, composting, and alkaline digestion.

However, the remains of some animals have to be disposed of in other ways. Elephant tusks, rhino horns and tiger teeth are often stolen and sold on the black market, so they’re usually removed from the carcasses and buried in undisclosed locations. And in some other countries, zoos are allowed to utilise the animal’s remains in other ways, like feeding the remains of their prey animals to their predators.

And yet, some zoo animals are destined to become ‘immortalised’. According to Dr Billy Hankins, a taxidermist and professor of dermatology at the University of California’s Los Angeles campus, natural history museums often have—

”… endangered, extinct, and exotic animals that some people have never seen before.”

One of the most famous examples is Dublin’s “Dead Zoo”. Founded in 1856, the National Museum of Ireland’s department of Natural History took the idea of scientific research, conservation and preservation a step further when they started displaying taxidermized animals. Over the years, they have collected hundreds of thousands of taxidermized specimens, fossils, and animal skeletons, and currently have some 2 million specimens in safe storage, of which only 10,000 are put on display at a time.

They include Bengal Tigers, lions, Basking sharks, entire whale skeletons, and the fossils of Giant Irish Deer and various dinosaurs. Some of the animals in the collection were gifted to the museum by Sheiks, kings, emperors, and ‘gentleman scientists’ like Charles Darwin—whose collection includes several flies he’d captured during his travels.

While most of the specimens in the various museums of natural history are commissioned from taxidermists and are ‘ethically sourced’—aka, they died accidentally or of natural causes—some of them are sourced from zoos, especially if the zoo in question has a particularly rare or endangered animal that has recently passed away that the museum would like to preserve.

Of course, unless the animal in question was the only one of its kind at the zoo, the public usually hardly notices that it’s gone. But what happens when famous zoo animals pass away?

On the 2nd of April 2021, the Animal Adventure Park announced that April the giraffe had been euthanised at the age of 20 due to worsening arthritis. According to the New York Post, her body was first sent to the Cornell University Veterinary School to undergo a necropsy before she was cremated and her ashes returned to the park.

A similar fate awaited Harambe, the 17-year-old Western lowland gorilla who was shot and killed after a 3-year-old boy climbed into his enclosure. His remains were cremated, and visitors to the park ended up erecting a shrine in his honour.

Another beloved zoo animal who passed away unexpectedly was Knut, a 4-year-old polar bear who was born at the Berlin Zoo in 2006. He’d been hand-reared by the zookeepers, and the cute 3½ months old cub became a popular tourist attraction after his first public appearance.

On the 19th of March 2011, Knut unexpectedly suffered a seizure and then drowned in his enclosure in full view of between 600 and 700 guests. A necropsy was performed, and it was later determined that he’d suffered from a viral infection that had caused his brain to swell. The report on his death was later published by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, and it is considered to be the ‘most in-depth post-mortem ever carried out on an animal’.

Following his necropsy, Knut’s remains were sent to Berlin’s Museum of Natural History, where his pelt was mounted onto a full-body statue. It was then put on display at the Berlin Museum of Natural History, as well as the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the Dutch National Museum of Natural History in the Netherlands. It has since been returned to Berlin, where it’s a part of the Berlin Museum of Natural History’s ‘Highlights of Taxidermy’ exhibition. The Berlin Zoo also unveiled a bronze statue of the 3½ month old Knut titled ‘Knut the Dreamer’ in his honour.

But Marius the Giraffe’s end wasn’t nearly as dignified as Knut’s, and the Copenhagen Zoo’s treatment of his remains sparked international controversy.

In February 2014, the Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark announced that its science department was going to host an educational demonstration, where a giraffe’s body would be dissected. During follow-up enquiries, it was determined that the zoo was planning on euthanising one of their surplus giraffes, a 2-year-old bull that the zookeepers referred to as “Marius”.

When the news of Marius’ impending death reached the public, animal activists all over Denmark protested this decision and organised a petition to save the life of “Marius the Giraffe”. Benght Holst, who was the Scientific Director at the zoo at the time, would later tell the BBC that Marius the Giraffe was a part of the giraffe breeding stock in Europe, but that his genes were too widespread. Breeding him with any of the females at the zoo would result in their offspring being inbred, and the same problem would occur should he be relocated to another zoo. Despite some claims that several zoos in the UK had offered to take Marius in, the Copenhagen Zoo reported that they were going ahead with the plan to euthanise Marius, and he was eventually shot and killed on the morning of the 9th of February 2014.

Following his death, his body was transported to an open area, where the public was invited to watch as his carcass was dissected, samples were removed for scientific study, and his remains were cut up into pieces. What was left of his carcass was then fed to the zoo’s lion pride.

Mr Holst would later explain that it’s a normal practice for ‘responsible zoos’ to do an annual cull of all the zoo animals that breed easily—such as goats, antelope, and wild boar—since it not only enables them to manage their resources better, but also provides necessary nutrients and enrichment opportunities for their predators. It was just unfortunate that in this instance, the animal they’d decided to euthanise had been known to the public.

And even though Marius’ death and the public dissection of his remains were controversial, it also sums up the purpose of the modern zoo: conservation of the species, the responsible management of the zoo as a whole, scientific study, and education of the public.

Key Takeaways

• Zoo animal remains undergo necropsy first to determine cause of death and check for infectious diseases before disposal decisions are made.
• In the US, zoo animal remains are disposed of through cremation, burial, composting, or alkaline digestion after scientific and educational needs are met.
• Valuable animal parts like elephant tusks and rhino horns are buried in undisclosed locations to prevent black market theft and illegal trade.
• Famous zoo animals receive varied posthumous treatment: April the Giraffe and Harambe were cremated, while Knut was taxidermied for museum display.
• The controversial 2014 public dissection of Marius the Giraffe exemplifies modern zoos’ purposes of conservation, resource management, scientific study, and public education.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the oldest known zoo or menagerie, and when was it established?

The oldest zoo – or rather, menagerie – that we know about was located in Hierakonpolis in Egypt in or around 3500 BC.

How were animals buried in the ancient Egyptian menagerie at Hierakonpolis?

The animals were buried in the same way as human servants – their organs were removed and placed in clay pots, and their bodies were wrapped up in reed mats and linen. They were buried in marked graves, and the pots containing their organs were placed in their graves as well.

What happened to animals at the Tower of London menagerie when they died?

When these animals passed away, they were either buried on the castle grounds or given to a taxidermist so that they could be stuffed and their bodies put on display. Others were processed and turned into meat, leather, or fur, or were handed over to physicians or scientists who wanted to dissect them.

How did the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes originate?

During the French Revolution, it was decided that all of the wild animals that were being kept by the fallen aristocrats should be confiscated. Scientists at the Museum of Natural History in Paris decided to keep the animals alive, and part of the botanical gardens on the museum grounds was converted into a menagerie.

What did Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, and Julian Huxley use the Zoological Gardens in London for?

Naturalists and biologists like Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, and his grandson, Julian Huxley, used the Zoological Gardens in London as a ‘living laboratory’. Zoos enabled these scientists to study the animals’ behaviour and movement while they were alive, and once they passed away, their bodies were dissected and studied further.

What happens to zoo animal remains in most countries after death?

In most countries, the remains of zoo animals are first sent off for a necropsy so that a cause of death can be established. Once the cause of death has been established and a report has been drawn up, the zoo will decide what they’re going to do with the animal’s remains.

What are the four ways zoo animal remains are disposed of in the US?

In the US, the remains of zoo animals are disposed of in four different ways: cremation, burial, composting, and alkaline digestion.

What happened to April the Giraffe after she died?

April the giraffe was euthanised at the age of 20 due to worsening arthritis. Her body was first sent to the Cornell University Veterinary School to undergo a necropsy before she was cremated and her ashes returned to the park.

What happened to Knut the polar bear after his death?

Following his necropsy, Knut’s remains were sent to Berlin’s Museum of Natural History, where his pelt was mounted onto a full-body statue. It was put on display at the Berlin Museum of Natural History, as well as the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the Dutch National Museum of Natural History in the Netherlands. It has since been returned to Berlin, where it’s a part of the Berlin Museum of Natural History’s ‘Highlights of Taxidermy’ exhibition.

What happened to Marius the Giraffe at the Copenhagen Zoo?

Marius, a 2-year-old giraffe, was shot and killed on February 9, 2014 because his genes were too widespread in the European giraffe breeding stock. Following his death, his body was transported to an open area where the public was invited to watch as his carcass was dissected, samples were removed for scientific study, and his remains were cut up into pieces. What was left of his carcass was then fed to the zoo’s lion pride.

Sources

• Original Scandal video: Did You Ever Wonder What Became of Dead Zoo Animals?
• https://web.archive.org/web/20120508183647/http://www.goodzoos.com/UK%20Zoos/london.htm
• https://web.archive.org/web/20100712005902/http://www.archaeology.org/1001/topten/egypt.html
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• https://www.britannica.com/animal/Przewalskis-horse
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• https://www.sheddaquarium.org/stories/wellington-edward-and-annie-the-perambulating-penguins#:~:text=Shedd%20Aquarium’s%20social%20media%20posts,at%20least%20as%20many%20places
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bao_Bao
• [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_(giraffe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_(giraffe)
• https://nypost.com/2021/04/02/april-the-giraffe-whose-pregnancy-went-viral-dead-at-20/
• https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/scientists-solve-mystery-of-polar-bear-knuts-death?
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harambe
• [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marius_(giraffe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marius_(giraffe)
• https://youtu.be/48wYzQiEnkg
• https://www.zoochat.com/community/threads/what-happens-to-dead-animals-in-zoos.466779/
• https://www.zoochat.com/community/threads/what-do-zoos-do-with-the-bodies-of-dead-animals.316928/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20130116232229/http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/the-great-zoos-who-2669960.html
• https://www.wuwm.com/environment/2024-05-03/what-happens-when-an-animal-at-the-milwaukee-county-zoo-dies?hl=en-ZA
• https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2414565121
• https://unacademy.com/content/question-answer/biology/who-is-the-father-of-zoology/#:~:text=Aristotle%20is%20known%20as%20the,the%20beginning%20of%20taxonomy%20science
• https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/giraffe.html
• https://dublin.ie/live/stories/museum-dublin-the-dead-zoo/
• https://abcnews.com/Health/News/inside-worlds-largest-taxidermy-collections/story?id=57243418
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3owtPuGzD2U
• https://historyofknowledge.hypotheses.org/17055
• Hero image source by DaHuzyBru / openverse, by-sa.

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