Santa Barbara Zoo’s Giraffe Calf Dies Following Dental Surgery
A giraffe calf from Santa Barbara Zoo has died after undergoing dental surgery.
Daniel, the Masai giraffe calf hit the headlines in January after arriving unexpectedly, but sadly the zoo has confirmed that the giraffe passed away following dental surgery. Daniel was having treatment for an abscess and infection in his lower jaw and veterinarians confirmed that the process had gone to plan until the recovery period, when the giraffe sadly went into arrest and never came round. The team tried to resuscitate the giraffe but they were unsuccessful and he died on Wednesday.
A necropsy will now be carried out at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab in San Bernardino, a standard procedure for all zoo animals.
The procedure was carried out by a team from the Colyer Institute, San Diego safari Park and Santa Barbara Zoo; the same team successfully treated Little Mac the elephant earlier this year but sadly the operation on the giraffe did not go as smoothly. Nancy McToldridge, the zoo’s director, explained that anaesthetising a giraffe is complex because of their unusual physiology, but Daniel needed treatment and the risk had to be taken.
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