Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has volunteered to save a giraffe that could be killed by a zoo in western Denmark.
Kadyrov posted a message on his Instagram account Thursday saying that he would give Marius the giraffe a home out of "humaneness."
The death of a giraffe in Copenhagen last week made international headlines after a zoo publicly dissected and fed the 18-month-old healthy animal — also named Marius — to lions because his genes were well-represented in a giraffe breeding program.
More than 27,000 people had signed a petition opposing the euthanizing and the zoo said that some staff members had received death threats about the decision, made to prevent inbreeding.
Two wildlife parks had wanted to take the animal and a billionaire had reportedly offered to buy the giraffe for £415,000 ($690,000), The Independent reported.
Kadyrov decried what he called a "bloody show" in front of children in Copenhagen and said he was alarmed to hear that another giraffe could possibly be killed.
The giraffe that Kadyrov has offered to take lives at the Jyllands Park Zoo and zookeepers say that if plans to acquire a female giraffe go through, then Marius will likely be put down, The Guardian reported.
The zookeeper said that the decision about the giraffe would depend on the breeding program coordinators.
Kadyrov, appointed as head of Chechnya by President Vladimir Putin in 2007, has owned a variety of wild animals, including a lion, a tiger and a bear, and has repeatedly professed his concern for animals on his Instagram account, which features pictures of him with horses, kittens and his tiger.
Human Rights Watch has accused Kadyrov of having a "grim record" of human rights abuse.
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