Was Marius the Giraffe Kosher?

Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen February 10, 2014

Getty Images

It seems the lions at the Copenhagen Zoo enjoyed a little kosher treat this weekend.

Yes folks, that’s right: Marius the giraffe was kosher.

The 18-month-old giraffe was euthanized on Sunday because of a duty to avoid inbreeding. Reuters reported that Marius was given his favourite breakfast of rye bread and then shot.

And by euthanized, we mean “Marius” was skinned and dismembered in front of children, and then fed to the zoo’s lions.

According to Kashrut.com, there are certain misconceptions about how kosher of the long-necked mammal actually is. But rest easy — you won’t be feasting on giraffe around the Shabbat table any time soon. Although the giraffe is a kosher, it is not slaughtered because it is not known where on the neck to perform the shechitah (ritual slaughter).

WARNING: the video below contains scary and graphic images not fit for children — Oh wait.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO