Giraffe dies at Zoo
The Zoo of Northwest Florida in now short one adult male giraffe.

The Zoo's 10 year old giraffe was found dead at 8 a.m. July 17, in its exhibit yard where it resided for the past eight years.

Zoo staff said the seemingly robust, healthy animal expired sometime during the night or early morning. The giraffes, along with all other zoo animals, were behaving normally at 9:30 p.m. when Lead Zoo Keeper Tom Realing checked on them and their exhibit during routine nightly rounds.

There were no marks on the animal and no external indications of trauma or injury.

Zoo staff found no evidence of projectile wounds or potential toxins, indications of trespassing or encroachment by humans, dogs, foxes or other animals that might have spooked the giraffe.

Zoo staff also contacted the National Weather Service in Mobile to check electrical storm records, which go back for any given 64 hour period, to determine if lightning may have been involved. The Weather Service reported no thunderstorm activity near the Zoo overnight Monday between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. Giraffes have been known to be severely startled or struck and even killed by lightning.

Upon completion of the necropsy by the Zoo's veterinarian, Dr. Gus Mueller, there was medical evidence that the animal had experienced some trauma to the upper neck area which indicates that it may have been startled and bolted into a post with enough force to cause bruising and possible collapse.

"The apparent cause of death was acute stress along with hyperthermia induced by the event. Grossly, there was pinpoint hemorrhaging in many of the tissues, particularly the heart muscle and pericardial fat," Mueller said. "More will be known in about a week when the myriad of tissue samples are returned from the lab after evaluation by a veterinary histopathologist."

Sammy, the 10-year-old male giraffe, had been in the same exhibit for eight years and was well acclimated and accustomed to all sorts of road noises, thunderstorms, hurricanes and many other distractions that might otherwise alarm or frighten an animal. Why the adult giraffe may have been startled enough to cause impact trauma on this particular day so far remains a mystery, Zoo officials said.