What happens behind closed doors at zoos.

After reading a recent article on fox news my blood started to boil. A zoo in copenhagen put down a giraffe because they wanted genetic diversity and to stop interbreeding between the other seven that they house. The giraffe was named marquis and was two year old healthy male and just starting his life as a captive animal. After he was put down by a bolt pistol he was dissacted, skinned, and chunked and then fed to the lions for the public to watch. Granted no caged animal lives to its full life expectancy in captivity but what is expected when they cant perform the activities they normally could do out in the wild.
I do not agree with this practice becuase this animal didnt choose to be held in captivity. If the zoo didnt want anymore genetically similar giraffes it should somehow prevent them from breeding, instead of breeding and letting them kill their offspring. The zoo had many other options of what to do with the animal but wouldnt change their mind on what they wanted to do with it. Even with a petition signed by 20,000 people online and numerous offers from other zoos to take the animal into their location. One zoo offered a sum of money close to 3/4 million dollars but it was turned down because that zoo was not in the same association as this particular zoo. Now that we have seen this catastrophy in public who can image whats happens to the animals behind closed doors?
This article has given myself a different perspective on zoos. At first I thought they were nice because it allowed children to see a variety of the worlds animals in one place. After reading this article I disagree with the practice of keeping animals at zoos in exhibits only a small fraction of the area they would see in the wild. No person would want to be trapped in a classroom for their whole entire life to be put on display to the public, so why should we allow the same to happen to animals? If we insist on keeping animals in enclosure for our viewing pleasure, I think it should be in the same manner as Wild Life Prairie Park does. One large open exhibit of 10+ acres for the animals from one area of the world to roam freely. I also believe that something should be done to mimick their natural habitat as to make them more comfortable because they are living creature also. If we find something unethical in the human race it should be the same for animals because we ourselves are animals. Its unethical to shoot a person and against the law so why shouldnt it be the same for other living creatures.
This article has made me consider if what we do to some animals unethical and unpractical because we are the ones at fault for them being in zoos and interbreeding. They should be allowed to roam free on multiple acres of land and nature take course. That would provide the same lesson that this zoo was trying to imply.I myself will not be going to a zoo or supporting a zoo anytime soon unless the ways of housing animals changes drastically to better the animals lives.
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/02/10/copenhagen-zoo-met-with-online-rage-after-putting-down-healthy-giraffe-to-stop/