Neumünster Zoo in Germany, has devised a heartbreaking proposal to stay afloat while closed over coronavirus concerns — feeding the animals to each other. The tragic announcement comes a month after the nation’s animal sanctuaries begged German Chancellor Angela Merkel for 100 million euros to help care for their critters amid state-mandated social distancing restrictions.

“We’ve listed the animals we’ll have to slaughter first​,” Verena Kaspari, director of Neumünster Zoo, tells German newspaper Die Welt, according to BBC. Neumünster belongs to an association and is therefore not entitled to financial relief from the state, leaving the visitor-less zoo with little recourse.

Kaspari didn’t list which animals will be slaughtered, but she says the “unpleasant” cost-cutting measure might not even be enough to offset their losses. Penguins and seals require an exorbitant amount of fish per day to sustain them, and unlike other businesses, zoos can’t go dormant during the pandemic due to animals’ daily feeding and enclosure maintenance requirements.