Road-killed moose become food for lions at Korkeasaari Zoo

About 50 animals killed in traffic collisions are delivered each year to Korkeasaari Zoo as food, Yle reports, citing the Finnish Wildlife Agency.

The animals are fed to large and small felids, wolverines and birds of prey.

“Wild game provides important variety in feeding. Whole carcasses with fur and hooves offer predators significant enrichment and different nutritional value compared with meat from slaughterhouses,” Aino Sjöholm, a curator at Korkeasaari Zoo, said in a statement.

When a car collides with a large animal, police call the large-game assistance service maintained by local game management associations. The service tracks injured animals and, when necessary, euthanises them on animal welfare grounds.

The Finnish Wildlife Agency says around 150 large-game assistance assignments are handled in Helsinki each year. About 50 animals killed in collisions are delivered annually to Korkeasaari Zoo for use as food.

Not every animal is suitable as food, including wild boar.

The agency urges people to report even apparently minor collisions with deer or moose to the emergency response centre, because the damage to a car does not indicate how badly the animal may be injured.