BERLIN (AP) — A zoo in the German city of Nurember g said it killed 12 baboons on Tuesday despite protests, capping a saga rooted in concerns that the zoo had too little space to house a growing group of the animals.
The Tiergarten Nürnberg zoo first announced plans to kill baboons it didn't have space for in February 2024. It has said that it examined offers to take in some of the animals but was unable to make any of them work.
The plans drew criticism from animal protection groups. They also drew protests at the zoo, which said on Monday that it would have to start preparing to kill baboons. On Tuesday morning, it announced that it was closing for the day for unspecified "operational reasons.”
On Tuesday afternoon, police said seven activists climbed over a wall into the zoo, and one woman glued her hands to the ground. The group was detained a few meters (yards) inside the entrance.
Shortly afterward, the zoo said it had killed 12 baboons. The deputy director, Jörg Beckmann, said the zoo had chosen animals that weren't pregnant females or part of studies, and that they were shot. Samples were taken for research purposes, and the bodies were then to be fed to the zoo's predators.
Zoo director Dag Encke told a news conference that the killings followed “yearslong consideration.” He argued that they had become necessary to maintain a healthy population because having a group that had outgrown its accommodation and couldn't be reduced by other means was pushing the zoo into conflict with animal protection laws.
Animal rights groups said they filed a criminal complaint against the zoo's management, arguing that the killings themselves violated animal protection laws and that the zoo had failed in its breeding management. Laura Zodrow, a spokesperson for the Pro Wildlife group, said in a statement that “this killing was avoidable and, from our point of view, is unlawful.”
The zoo's population of Guinea baboons had grown to 43 and was too big for a house opened in 2009 for 25 animals plus their young, leading to more conflicts among the animals.
The zoo has said it did take steps in the past to address the issue, with 16 baboons moving to zoos in Paris and China since 2011. But those zoos, and another in Spain to which baboons were previously sent, had reached their own capacity. An attempt at contraception was abandoned several years ago after failing to produce the desired results.
Animals are regularly euthanized in European zoos for a variety of reasons. Some past cases have caused an outcry; for example, one in 2014 in which Copenhagen Zoo killed a healthy 2-year-old giraffe, butchered its carcass in front of a crowd that included children and then fed it to lions.
Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion are arrested by the police after entering the grounds of the Nuremberg Zoo in Nuremberg, Germany, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Daniel Loeb/dpa via AP)
Demonstrators stand with protest signs in front of the Nuremberg Zoo in Nuremberg, Germany, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Slogan reads 'we won't remain silence until all animals can live in freedom'. (Daniel Loeb/dpa via AP)
BEIJING (AP) — Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.
Carney made the announcement after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders. He said there would be an initial cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports to Canada, growing to 70,000 over five years. China will reduce its tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from about 84% to about 15%, he told reporters.
“It has been a historic and productive two days,” Carney said, speaking outside against the backdrop of a traditional pavilion and a frozen pond at a Beijing park. “We have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and focus our efforts to work together where we’re aligned.”
Earlier Friday, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.
Xi told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.
“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement,” China's top leader said.
Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, said better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”
He called for a new relationship “adapted to new global realities” and cooperation in agriculture, energy and finance.
Those new realities reflect in large part the so-called America-first approach of U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs he has imposed have hit both the Canadian and Chinese economies. Carney, who has met with several leading Chinese companies in Beijing, said ahead of his trip that his government is focused on building an economy less reliant on the U.S. at what he called “a time of global trade disruption.”
A Canadian business owner in China called Carney's visit game-changing, saying it re-establishes dialogue, respect and a framework between the two nations.
“These three things we didn’t have,” said Jacob Cooke, the CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps exporters navigate the Chinese market. “The parties were not talking for years.”
Canada had followed the U.S. in putting tariffs of 100% on EVs from China and 25% on steel and aluminum under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor.
China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola, an industry group has said. Overall, China's imports from Canada fell 10.4% last year to $41.7 billion, according to Chinese trade data.
China is hoping Trump’s pressure tactics on allies such as Canada will drive them to pursue a foreign policy that is less aligned with the United States. The U.S. president has suggested Canada could become America's 51st state.
Carney departs China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.
Associated Press business writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaks to the media at Ritan Park in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, leaves after speaking to the media at Ritan Park in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, reacts during a meeting with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (not in the picture), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaks to the media at Ritan Park in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, arrives to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
