Taipei Zoo yesterday announced the deaths of a 23-year-old male giraffe from an age-related ailment and a giant anteater, who died after giving birth.
Koudaisha (口袋莎), who was due to give birth late last month or early this month, went into labor on Dec. 6, the zoo said.
After the anteater began showing signs of exhaustion, its keepers summoned veterinary staff, who discovered through an ultrasound that the pup had a weak heartbeat, and decided to deliver it by caesarean section, it said.
Photo: CNA
During the surgery, doctors discovered an old wound on the outer layer of the anteater’s uterus, tissues from which became stuck to an intestine and complicated efforts to extract the pup.
The zoo said the baby anteater was not breathing when it was delivered, and although it was successfully resuscitated, it died two days later.
Koudaisha lost a significant amount of blood during the surgery, and upon awakening was weak and refused to eat, the zoo said, adding that she then passed away in the morning on Monday last week.
The zoo also said that it found the giraffe Chu Chung (菊忠) dead in the indoor part of his enclosure on Tuesday morning.
An autopsy by the zoo’s veterinary team showed that the giraffe had died of “old age and organ failure,” it said.
The zoo added that while “aging, sickness and death” are a part of nature, its staff were nevertheless saddened to lose the two animals in such quick succession.
Giraffes have an average life expectancy of 20 to 25 years in captivity and 10 to 15 years in the wild.
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