Giraffe dies of broken neck during journey

VISAKHAPATNAM: In a tragic incident, one of the three giraffes shipped from the Negara Malaysian Zoological Society in Malaysia died en route its journey to India a few days ago. Of the three giraffes being shipped, a female giraffe aged less than two years died reportedly after its neck broke during the five-day journey from Malaysia to Chennai.

The other two giraffes (a male and a female) were later shifted from Chennai to Hyderabad's Nehru Zoological Park by road a couple of days ago.

According to sources, the young female giraffe suffered fracture on its neck during the course of the journey and though the veterinarians on-board

tried to treat it, the giraffe was unable to complete its journey and succumbed to injuries. It was to be housed at Hyderabad zoo which had lost a female giraffe a few months ago

. "It was a very unfortunate incident. We came to know that the neck of the giraffe broke and though medical attention was given, it was unable to survive," an Indira Gandhi Zoological Park ( IGZP) official said.

According to another IGZP official, "In a freak mishap on the second day of the journey, it accidently got toppled while turning in its enclosure on. Its neck got twisted between its legs and its blood pressure shot up, affecting its brain and we lost the animal."

The giraffes were being shipped via the sea route as they had grown to a height of more than 10 feet, due to which they could not be accommodated on flight.

The surviving giraffes have currently been quarantined at Hyderabad zoo and will be transferred to IGZP here in the first week of November. The two giraffes are now being kept under observation as they travelled for nearly six-and-half days from their destination in Malaysia. While the travel from Malaysia to Chennai took five days, it took another one-and-half-day via road to Hyderabad.

Of the two, one is a male aged about two years and the other is a female, less than one year. Giraffes are usually brought at a young age and they have a life span of around 20 to 25 years in captivity.

A source at the zoo said, "We had planned everything carefully and managed to get them before Phailin occurred. The sea was also very calm during their journey, still one of the giraffes died."

Meanwhile, the 11-year-old one-horned Asian Rhinocerious Nakul, which had created a ruckus on its arrival about seven months ago, has now been unofficially thrown open for public viewing. Nakul, which had been sharing an enclosure with the sambars, was shifted to its own enclosure last month. Sources said that with public arrivals to the zoo having dropped by nearly 50% due to the Samaikyandhra stir, Nakul was expected to result in an increase in visitor footfalls at the zoo.