A zoo in the German city of Nuremberg 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.

Twelve baboons were shot dead at a German zoo because there was not enough space in their enclosure. Tiergarten Nürnberg zoo has sparked outcry from animal rights groups after culling the healthy animals and feeding them to predators.

A German zoo has killed a dozen healthy Guinea baboons and fed them to predators. Nuremberg Zoo claimed that it had to kill the captive monkeys as a last resort to address an “increase in conflict” caused by overcrowding.