FLORIDA — Zoo Miami announces the death of a young giraffe following a freak accident yesterday morning.
“Wesley,” a young male giraffe that was born last May at the zoo, had to be euthanized yesterday after he lodged his head between two posts, panicked, and caused an apparent spinal injury that eventually prevented him from being able to stand and maintain his equilibrium. The incident occurred during a procedure with another giraffe when Wesley went out on exhibit without incident and then returned to the holding area apparently trying to observe what was happening with the giraffe being examined.
He was able to squeeze his head between two posts that were separating the exhibit from the holding area and when he lowered his neck, his head became lodged. Though the staff was able to dislodge him within a few minutes, it was too late to prevent significant injury to the giraffe. For several hours, the veterinary team tried a variety of treatments and supportive care. However, after a consistent and dramatic decline in his condition, the difficult decision was made to euthanize him.
The necropsy that will be performed today will hopefully provide more conclusive details as to the actual extent of the injury. However, all indications were that it was a spinal cord related trauma.
Wesley was the 48th giraffe born at Zoo Miami and this is the first accident of its kind in the zoo’s history. Zoo staff is making immediate modifications to the area to prevent any such accident from happening again by closing any gaps that would allow an animal to lodge itself in a similar manner. In addition, the management team is closely examining each area throughout the rest of the zoo to insure that none of the other animals could be exposed to the same danger.
