ATLANTA — An 8-year-old giraffe died unexpectedly Monday at Zoo Atlanta after getting part of its neck stuck in a metal railing.
The zoo announced the death Tuesday morning, saying Zuberi was in the behind-the-scenes giraffe complex when the accident happened. Workers were in the enclosure with him caring for another giraffe when it happened.
"They saw some unusual movement in Zuberi's area and saw that he had a portion of his neck in a very small space in the metal railing," Dr. Jennifer Mickelberg said.
The zoo said in its statement that Zuberi and the other giraffes are very familiar with that area and that safety checks on all animal areas are a part of their regular daily procedures.
Officials said the animal care team responded immediately, but Zuberi died shortly after.
"It’s an area he’s really comfortable in. Really, this is just a highly unusual incident. There’s really nothing unusual that would have occurred that would have led up to something unusual happening," Mickelberg said.
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