Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The Toronto Zoo says a 13-year-old giraffe has died after getting caught in an opening door to his behind-the-scenes habitat.
A post on the zoo’s Facebook page says Kiko, the male Masai giraffe, was being given access to an additional area of his habitat on Thursday when he began exploring the space and became caught.
The zoo says staff immediately responded, but Kiko panicked and sustained injuries that, due to the unique anatomy of his species, proved fatal.
The statement says Masai giraffes have delicate heads and a six-foot neck “capable of moving forward, backward, up, down, and side-to-side, allowing their head position to shift quickly.”
The giraffe’s body has been sent to the University of Guelph for a full postmortem, and the zoo says its health and safety services team is investigating.
It says the number of Masai giraffes have dropped to just over 43,000 and in 2018 they were listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
“While this appears to be a very tragic and unfortunate incident, as an accredited zoo, we will share the findings once the full investigation has concluded,” the statement says.
“We are committed to learning from this tragedy and sharing any findings with our broader community, and we are determined to learn from this tragedy to prevent anything like it from occurring again.”
‘He had a long life ahead of him’
Grant Furniss, director of Wildlife Operations at Toronto Zoo, said the zoo uses the door “thousands of times a year,” therefore, the investigation is needed to fully understand what happened.
“[It’s a] very tragic and unfortunate incident,” he said, adding that Kiko had “a long life ahead of him” as he was a relatively young giraffe.
“A lot of us are still trying to comprehend exactly what happened … we can only speculate at this stage.”
The incident has had a massive impact on the staff, Furniss said, and they will be getting “all the support mechanisms they need.”
Female Masai giraffe Mstari is carrying Kiko’s calf, and is in the late stage of her pregnancy, the zoo statement said. Furniss said it’s a priority for the zoo to make sure the pregnancy is successful.