Killing the impulse to save Marius: Disney nature and the ethics of fascination in multispecies relations

Abstract

The euthanasia of Marius, an 18-month-old giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo in 2014, triggered intense global debate about zoo management practices. This article examines how the zoo's explicit display of clinical detachment through public dissection reveals the complex dynamics of human-animal relations in contemporary conservation institutions. Drawing on 17 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I demonstrate how zoos cultivate ‘fascination’ as a carefully managed form of attachment that enables rather than prevents detachment from animals. Through analysis of the Marius case, I show how fascination operates as more than simple enchantment − it disciplines public understanding of nature and produces specific forms of ethical responsibility. The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) policy of culling healthy animals reflects a clinical logic that starkly contrasts with impassioned public responses, illuminating how engagement and detachment co-constitute each other in zoo spaces. This co-constitution enables certain kinds of response-ability while disabling others, revealing how conservation institutions shape possibilities for multispecies relations.