From the Copenhagen zoo that brought you the dissection of 2-year-old Marius the giraffe comes the killing of a family of lions.

Copenhagen Zoo says it was forced into the decision as it was unable to find anyone willing to re-home the animals.

Zoo administrators feared the lion family's two 10-month-old cubs would be at the mercy of a new male being introduced. According to staff at the zoo, the cubs "would have been killed by the new male lion as soon as he got the chance."

The adult male and female lions, aged 16 and 14 respectively, were also nearing end of their natural lives, according to the zoo.

"Because of the pride of lions' natural structure and behaviour, the zoo has had to euthanize the two old lions and two young lions who were not old enough to fend for themselves," the zoo said in a statement.

This time, however, the zoo will refrain from dissecting the dead creatures. "Not all our animals are dissected in front of an audience," a spokesman said.