The Dallas Zoo is working to determine how a 3-month-old giraffe suffered a severe leg injury that caused the calf to be euthanized in early October, according to a report by the Dallas Morning News.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Marekani was born July 4. She made her public debut in the Giants of the Savanna exhibit days later.
Zoo staff noticed that she was limping on Oct. 2 and found multiple fractures in her leg the following day, the Dallas Morning News reported.
According to the Dallas Morning News, her injuries were nearly irreparable and would have caused lifelong pain and deformities. She was euthanized on Oct. 3.
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She is the third giraffe calf to die at the zoo since 2015, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Harrison Edell, vice president of animal care and conservation at the zoo, told the Dallas Morning News that in the days following Marekani's death, staff narrowed down the time of her injury to a 10-minute window when caretakers did not see what went on in the habitat.
The zoo is now working with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as well as the zoo’s licensing agency, the United States Department of Agriculture, to determine if changes need to be made to the giraffe’s care or environment in order to prevent similar incidents, Edell told the Dallas Morning News.
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