Dallas Zoo Mourns Death Of Baby Giraffe

Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Hearts are heavy at the Dallas Zoo after a tragic loss on Tuesday afternoon. Millions of people watched the birth of baby giraffe Kipenzi online back in April. Now, they are mourning her death as zookeepers try to understand what went wrong.

The 3-month-old giraffe died at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Zoo officials explained that Kipenzi was playing with her brother and rambunctiously running in the feeding yard. She made a sharp turn and accidentally ran into a perimeter edge. The zoo said that Kipenzi broke her neck and was killed instantly.

A similar tragic accident could have happened in the wild if a giraffe were to run into a tree, the zoo said.

"Honestly, nobody saw the specific impact," said Harrison Edell, the senior director of living collections. "We heard it. We can tell by the injuries that she made contact with something. But there was nothing in the yard that was out of the ordinary. They were all aspects of the exhibit that she had encountered before."

Afterward, zoo officials made sure that mother Katie had a few minutes with her lost child. "It's always tough to know what's going on inside an animal's head," Edell added, "but we will be monitoring her and making sure she's getting by and doing okay."  Zoo workers have not noticed any issues with Katie.  They say giraffes don't grieve as some other animals do.

Kipenzi means "loved one" in Swahili.

The zoo is conducting an investigation to see if anything could have been done to prevent this from happening, but officials say this appears to be an accident with no one at fault.  An expert explained it's difficult even for adult giraffes to get back up right away and babies don't have great balance.  A necropsy performed Wednesday morning confirmed Kipenzi died of a broken neck.

Kipenzi was a huge star at the Dallas Zoo, and many messages of support have been shared on the zoo's Facebook page, where people are trying to cope with the loss. Visitors are also welcome to donate to Kipenzi's memory. The Dallas Zoo recommends the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, which protects giraffes in Africa.

North Texans stopped by the Dallas Zoo on Wednesday to remember the young giraffe. "I heard about what happened last night and it just kind of hit hard for me," said Amanda Cribbs. "It's really sad, and I just kind of felt like I should be here today and pay my respects."

"It was a really big shock, because I was getting really excited to come see her today and then I found out," added Alexis Corona. "I was broken. It's really sad."

Counselors are there to help zookeepers cope with the loss.  None of the zoo workers are speaking to the media at this time, while they grieve the loss of Kipenzi.

Animal Planet helped with the live broadcast of Kipenzi's birth and shared this statement about the giraffe's death:

"Like our friends and fellow animal lovers at the Dallas Zoo and around the world, we are completely heartbroken after learning of the tragic death of Kipenzi, the giraffe born on Animal Planet.

The 24x7 coverage we offered of Katie's pregnancy and Kipenzi's birth was one of the most exciting and beautiful projects we have undertaken in our network's history. In her short time, Kipenzi provided an intensely powerful reminder of the miracle of birth and the beauty of the natural world. This extremely sad news underscores nature's fragility.

Our sincerest sympathy goes out to all of our partners in Texas and to everyone with whom we shared Kipenzi's momentous arrival earlier this year."

The Dallas Zoo has reported the death to the USDA, which oversees the care of animals under the Animal Welfare Act and performs unannounced inspections on average once a year.  USDA will decide whether a followup inspection needs to be done.  Records show the agency visited the zoo on June 15, and found no compliance issues.  Past reports include a keeper error in August 2014, but nothing that would indicate a safety issue with the enclosures at this zoo.

The Dallas Zoo now has 12 giraffes left and says the breeding program will continue.  Kipenzi was the third baby born at the zoo since 2010.