3-month-old giraffe dies at Zoo Miami. She may have been spooked, officials say
A 3-month-old giraffe was found dead Saturday morning in her enclosure at Zoo Miami.
After conducting a necropsy on the animal, scientists concluded that the cause of death was a broken neck, Ron Magill, the zoo’s spokesman, said in a statement Monday.
“Because the event that led to this trauma happened overnight and was not personally observed, zoo officials can only speculate that something startled the animal and caused it to run into a fence, resulting in the fatal injury,” Magill said. “No other giraffe in the herd displayed any signs of trauma, and all have since returned to their normal routines without incident.”
The giraffe, named Saba, was born at the zoo on Dec. 15, Magill said.
Zoo staff is monitoring the other giraffes for any indication of stress or abnormal behavior, Magill said.
The calf was born to 13-year-old mother Sabra, and father Malcom, who was 6 years old at the time. She was the eighth calf born to each parent, Magill said in a December press release announcing her birth.
She was 5 feet tall and weighed 120 pounds at birth.
A total of nine giraffes, five male and four female, live at the zoo, he said.
Previous time young giraffe died at zoo
This is not the first time a young giraffe died at Zoo Miami.
In 2016, a 7-month-old giraffe named Wesley died after he got his neck wedged between two fence posts in a chain-link fence separating his habitat from a holding area. He had gone over to look at another giraffe who was getting a routine exam.
Wesley lowered his neck into a gap between the posts, panicked when he couldn’t pull his head back through the opening, jerked backward, fell and hurt his neck, which was still lodged between the fence posts.
READ MORE: Young giraffe euthanized at Zoo Miami after head caught in fence posts
Magill said there have been 60 giraffes born at the zoo throughout its history.
This story was originally published March 18, 2024 at 1:46 PM.
