Zoo defends plan to destroy giraffe

Animal rights campaigners in Denmark are trying to save a healthy young giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo from being destroyed.

The zoo says it cannot keep the animal, named Marius, because of European rules to avoid in-breeding, and that attempts to find it a new home have failed.

Campaigners say to kill him would be barbaric, but the zoo's scientific director, Bengt Holst, insists that above all else, it is vital to ensure the giraffe population remains "genetically sound".