“Pongo,” a male giraffe who, being the largest of the herd, was one of the Miami Zoo’s main attractions, was euthanized on Monday after breaking two legs and subsequently aggravating the wound, the zoo reported. from Miami.
“It is with great sadness that Zoo Miami officials had to make the difficult decision this morning to euthanize ‘Pongo’, a male giraffe nearly 12 years old and 4 meters long,” he said. the park in South Florida in a statement.
Last September, a multidisciplinary team of more than 24 people managed to immobilize “Pongo”, nearly 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms), with two broken legs to put on custom rubber shoes and take X-rays, an operation that the park described as “extreme challenge”.
Against all odds, “the fixation was successful and the team was able to equip the animal with appropriate shoes that seemed to relieve the pain.”
Initially, these prostheses allowed the giraffe to walk normally; but a few weeks after the operation, he took off his shoes and at one point he injured himself again.
“Pongo,” who was born at the Denver, Colorado Zoo in February 2009 and arrived in Miami in November of the same year, was immobilized again this Monday to continue his anesthesia treatment, but had to be euthanized due to severity of the fracture revealed by X-rays.
Adult giraffes are among the most difficult animals to anesthetize because of their large size and height, and “death from failure to recover from the anesthesia is a serious risk,” the zoo said in immobilizing them in September.
“Unfortunately, the X-rays showed that he had further broken his foot in the past two weeks in a way that prevented the Animal Health team from treating it successfully,” so the “painful decision” was made. of euthanizing him while he was under anesthesia, the zoo detailed.
Since his arrival, “Pongo” had become a favorite of countless guests who had the pleasure of feeding him at our Samburu giraffe feeding station. Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting him and the privilege of working with him will miss him. awful, ” wrote the Miami Zoo.