The readers' editor on… a stretched tale about a Danish giraffe cull

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/16/stretched-tale-danish-giraffe-cull

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When Marius the giraffe was put down and fed to the lions in front of visitors at Copenhagen zoo, its death caused controversy.

A few days later on 12 February the Guardian ran an online story about another giraffe in a Danish zoo called Marius.

Two paragraphs ran: "Days after the euthanasia of a healthy young giraffe at Copenhagen zoo sparked controversy around the world, a second Danish zoo has announced that it is considering a similar fate for another giraffe – also named Marius.

"Jyllands Park zoo, in western Denmark, currently has two male giraffes, but has been approved to participate in the European breeding programme. If zookeepers manage to acquire a female giraffe, seven-year-old Marius will have to make way."

For those readers with a keen eye for unconsidered trifles, an online story on 6 March told the tale of a lemur at London zoo that snatched a camera and took a "selfie", describing it as one more "bizarre animal story". Within that story was a reference to the earlier "bizarre" story of the "second Danish giraffe also called Marius and also facing an untimely demise [like the first]".

These references to the potential cull of another giraffe prompted an angry complaint from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, which gave the go-ahead for the death of the first Marius because it was unsuitable for breeding.

David Williams-Mitchell, of the EAZA, wrote that the organisation "has made it clear that no plan to cull this giraffe has ever been discussed with Jyllands; that Jyllands never had any intention to cull the animal; that no such demand was made from the EAZA Giraffe EEP [European endangered species programme]; and that at no stage has the EEP ever considered providing Jyllands with a female giraffe for the establishment of a breeding herd, thus there has never been any need to cull this animal."

Mr Williams-Mitchell suggested that the Guardian had not contacted the EAZA and had "fabricated" the article, which was widely reported elsewhere; the "risk" to the second Marius was being referred to in other stories.

The Guardian's story was wrong but was not fabricated, which suggests the journalist wilfully invented or concocted the story with deceitful intent.

What happened is that the journalist was alerted to the story by copy from a reputable Danish news agency. He telephoned the zoo and was put through to a zookeeper, who broadly confirmed the news agency story that if the zoo received a female giraffe, euthanasia for the other giraffe would be considered. The reporter now wishes he had contacted EAZA too, but at the time he didn't think it necessary. When he rang, the zoo itself appeared to confirm a reputable agency story because the zookeeper had been offered as the appropriate person to speak to after the reporter identified himself as a journalist.

The Guardian's story was published online on 12 February at 5.30pm and was given further credence by a posting on the zoo's Facebook page on 13 February. The zoo said that it had two male giraffes. One is actually the older brother to "Marius" from Copenhagen zoo, and the other one is of a "genetically unsure mix".

"If there are some genetically more valuable giraffes in the programme that need the space, we have to decide what to do with him.

"We will of course try to place him in a suitable zoo, but if that is not possible, we might have to euthanise him."

The zoo went on to say that it would hope to be able to place Marius and that the problem was "not acute".

Twenty-four hours – and a great deal of press coverage – later there was another Facebook posting from Jyllands zoo: "The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) have announced that Jyllands Park zoo is not to receive a female giraffe any time soon as part of the programme.

As a result of this we will of course keep both our giraffes ... The media stories are only based on a hypothetical situation."

This is not a weighty story by most journalistic standards but neither is it considered a trifle by the EAZA – Copenhagen zoo staff had death threats after the first Marius was killed. Let us hope an online footnote and correction will stall the story before it gathers the momentum of endless repetition on the web.