German animal rights activists have filed a complaint against the Leipzig Zoo for euthanizing tiger cubs.

The animal welfare organization PETA has announced the filing of a criminal complaint against the Leipzig Zoo in eastern Germany due to the fact that the management euthanized three cubs of the Amur tiger listed in the International Red Book. This was reported by the Bild newspaper on August 10.

Animal rights activists want to find out the legality of killing tiger cubs: they were euthanized after a mother named Yushka refused to feed her offspring.

"We demand the immediate cessation of senseless breeding programs, because Amur tigers have no place in Leipzig," the newspaper quoted Peter Heffken, head of the animal rights organization, as saying.

According to animal rights activists, in the wild, tigresses almost always adopt their offspring. The problem, in their opinion, is related to artificial breeding in captivity. PETA claims that breeding and keeping Amur tigers in zoos is a dead end in terms of species conservation, since the animals cannot be released into the wild.

The Leipzig Zoo objected to the arguments of animal rights activists and stated that it would continue attempts to breed the Amur tiger.

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Investigators have already opened a case on violation of labor protection requirements, which resulted in serious harm to health.

A zoo in the German city of Leipzig euthanized three Amur tiger cubs on August 9 because their mother refused to raise them. The tigress did not pay attention to the brood for almost two days, which caused the babies to become very weak. In this regard, the specialists had to "take on heavy responsibility and save the cubs from suffering due to starvation."

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