A German zoo recently faced backlash for euthanising a healthy monkey, and now a Danish zoo has stirred further controversy by asking the public to donate domestic animals as food for its predators.

"Want to donate your horse for feed?" reads a message on the Aalborg Zoo website. The zoo says it would "gratefully accept live horses, which we will euthanise and process into feed for the animals at Aalborg Zoo". However, it adds that demand varies throughout the year, and there may be a waiting list.

A few days earlier, the zoo had already posted a similar appeal on Instagram, encouraging people to donate small pets. "Chickens, rabbits, and guinea pigs are an important part of our carnivores' diet", the park wrote.

It explained that the zoo’s responsibility is to replicate the natural food chain of the animals in its care. For this reason, it specifically seeks "healthy animals" to be used as feed. The zoo also noted that lynxes in particular require whole prey, as it helps simulate the type of animals they would naturally hunt in the wild.