Guests can eat the animals on display at this Swiss zoo

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If you see a deer or boar roaming free at Langnau am Albis, a wildlife park in Switzerland, don’t get too attached.

One of them may become your dinner.

Langnau am Albis, just south of Zurich, has been serving game meat from the exhibits at restaurants on park grounds in order to control animal populations. Martin Kilchenmann, a spokesman for the wildlife park, told Der Landbote that the animals on the menu were killed on the park property.

Kilchenmann explained that the process was “very ecological,” and teaches park visitors about the “natural cycle” of the animals.

In 2012, 49 deer and 10 boar were shot in the park and “recycled” for eating purposes at the zoo's eateries, including The Bear Enclosure and The Hunter's Room. Kilchenmann said about 100 animals are born each year at the zoo, and if new homes can not be found for the surplus population, they are killed for human consumption.

“The majority of our guests show goodwill and support our approach,” he told Der Landbote.

Seasonal dishes include 'Braised Roast wild boar from wildlife park
with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables' and 'Venison in Cognac Sauce.'

Ruth Widmer, president of a local Swiss animal protection association, told UPI she was “shocked” by this information and has called on officials to see how to limit the amount of births at the zoo.

Though uncommon to eat exotic creatures at many zoos, many animal exhibits in the U.S. do serve meat like hot dogs and hamburgers at diners on the premises.