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Berlin zoo accused of profiting from slaughter

A German Green party politician has accused Berlin zoo of selling animals to traders, the Guardian reported on Friday, amid claims they were in some cases turned into potency-boosting drugs in China.

Claudia Hämmerling, backed by several animal rights groups, alleges that several tigers and leopards from Berlin ended up in a tiger
breeding farm in China that promoted itself as a purveyor of traditional medicines.

The zoo director, Bernhard Blaszkiewitz, strongly denied the charges, saying his critics were spreading "untruths, half-truths and lies".

Blaszkiewitz added that while animals were sent to China in the 1990s, their transfer was approved by the Federal Office for Nature
Protection. He denied claims that money making was the motivating factor.

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