Neumuenster Zoo relies heavily on admission costs to fund the care of its animals. And now it has been forced to close, it is looking at how it can survive the coronavirus pandemic.
The zoo's director, Verena Kaspari, told the Die Welt newspaper that feeding animals with other animals in their collection would be a 'last resort.'
And she said she would rather put animals to sleep than see them slowly starve.
'If it comes to it, I’ll have to euthanise animals, rather than let them starve,' she said, the BBC reported.
'At the worst, we would have to feed some of the animals to others,' she said, adding the zoo had drawn up a list of which animals would be slaughtered first.
Smaller animals such as penguins and seals would be first on the list for any euthanisation programme due to the number of fish they need to eat to survive.
The zoo is not eligible for the German government's support for small businesses as it is run by an association.
Ms Kaspari said the zoo had lost more than $300,000 due to its closure and the loss of any animal life would be 'unpleasant.'
