VISAKHAPATNAM: A male giraffe, Beacon, died at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park on Monday. Veterinary assistant surgeon at IGZP confirmed cardiopulmonary failure to be the cause for the 12.5-year-old animal’s death.
The male giraffe was brought to the IGZP in Visakhapatnam from Zoo Negara in Malaysia in 2013.
Zoo authorities said the giraffe was sick for the past one year. All measures had been taken to treat the animal. In addition to IGZP veterinary doctors, other senior experts were roped in to provide better treatment to the giraffe. However, Beacon’s health condition worsened two months ago and he died. Last year, a 10-year-old female giraffe ‘May’ died due to ill health at IGZP. She died after three months of treatment for chronic metritis and pneumonia.
IGZP likely to get two more giraffes soon
May was also brought to IGZP from Zoo Negara in 2013, when she was just four months old.
IGZP curator Nandini Salaria said, “Both the giraffes were crowd pullers. The average lifespan of giraffes in most Indian zoos is around 15-17 years.”
Further, she explained that proposals have been sent to the Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA) to bring two giraffes to IGZP from Alipore Zoo in Kolkata. “We are likely to get permission soon,” she said.