LAHORE: A bull giraffe died at Lahore Zoo on Friday.

According to the zoo officials, the giraffe was sick for the last seven months and it had stopped eating to its full capacity.

They said that besides the zoo vets, those from other institutes such as from the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) were also called for regular check-ups of the giraffe.

Punjab Wildlife headquarters Deputy Director Muhammad Mudassar told Dawn that actual cause of death would be known after the post-mortem report; however, it was suspected that the giraffe had some blood infection.

The animal was nine years old and it was brought to the zoo in 2017 along with two others. A cow giraffe had died in 2018, days after its arrival at the zoo from South Africa. According to the media reports at her death, that giraffe had cost Rs19m. Now this male giraffe also died.

According to the zoo officials, a giraffe costs around Rs40m to Rs50m. The zoo will now make arrangements for pairing of the cow giraffe left behind at the zoo. The dead giraffe will be stuffed later.

In 2015, a giraffe had died at the Lahore Zoo. He was the last of the three giraffes imported in 2007. Later in 2018, the zoo had imported three more giraffes, one had died soon after its arrival at the zoo, the second of them died on Wednesday.

The average age of a giraffe is 25 years while it lives longer in captivity. Since 2007, the Lahore Zoo has imported six giraffes and five of them died prematurely due to different reasons.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2022