SPCA investigating death of zoo's baby giraffe
Calf had irregular heartbeat, was later stomped by mother
Yumimi Pang, The Province
Published: Friday, July 07, 2006
The death of an eight-day-old giraffe at the Greater Vancouver Zoo has sparked an SPCA inquiry and questions about why an elderly giraffe was bred.
"We are concerned with the fact that the zoo bred an 18-year-old giraffe. She's an elderly giraffe and it was her first calf," said Eileen Drever, the SPCA's senior animal protection officer.
The zoo owners are currently facing animal-cruelty charges related to Hazina the hippo's enclosure.
The SPCA doesn't normally investigate animal deaths, but Drever said: "Considering they're already facing cruelty charges, I think that's why it's being highlighted."
Dr. Bruce Burton, the Aldergrove zoo's veterinarian, said the giraffe was not too old to be bred.
"She's a very healthy animal," he said. "If any animal could be bred safely, someone like this would be a candidate."
Burton estimated the lifespan of a giraffe in captivity at 25 to 27 years and in the wild about 15 to 16 years.
The giraffe wasn't bred intentionally, the zoo just let nature take its course. The father is the zoo's only other giraffe, a six-year-old male.
Eleah gave birth to the unnamed giraffe calf on June 21. The birth was difficult and zoo staff had to intervene. While they were caring for the calf, Eleah charged. Burton believes Eleah grazed her calf, breaking her ribs.
The calf also had an irregular heart rate and had to be tube-fed.
"The surprise is not that she passed away, it was that she lasted eight days," said Burton. "We're still devastated."
The calf died on June 29 but the zoo did not announce its death until Wednesday.
A zoo spokesperson said they were waiting for a post-mortem, which shows she died of pneumonia and broken ribs.
Burton didn't have numbers for births in captivity, but he estimated that half of the animals born in the wild die before they reach a year old.
Melissa Tkachyk, a spokeswoman with the World Society for the Protection of Animals, worries that zoos are using baby animals to draw the public.
"My main concern is that many zoos still cater to the public interest and sometimes that means producing babies and that can come with the consequences," she said.
The Vancouver Humane Society is calling for regulatory standards for keeping exotic animals.
"We'd like see the provincial government step in and regulate zoos and the keeping of exotic animals," said spokesperson Peter Fricker. "Currently they have no protection under the law."
The Greater Vancouver Zoo has more than 600 animals including African lions, Bactrian camels, capybaras, Eurasian lynxes, Siberian tigers and vulturine guineafowls.
In 2004, the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums withdrew the Greater Vancouver Zoo's accreditation and it is still not accredited.
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© The Vancouver Province 2006
SPCA will investigate death of baby giraffe
Probe launched after Greater Vancouver Zoo announced calf's death nearly week after it died
Darah Hansen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, July 07, 2006
ALDERGROVE - The SPCA has launched its second cruelty probe this year into the practices of the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove after learning Wednesday of the death of an eight-day-old giraffe born in its care last month.
On Thursday, Eileen Drever, the B.C. SPCA's senior animal protection officer, said she wants to know how and why the unnamed calf died, and what care the animal was given during its short lifespan.
Drever said she will also examine the zoo's choice to breed the mother giraffe -- a 17-year-old cow that had never before given birth.
"That's old," she said of the mother's age, adding, "We're concerned about that."
Drever said she will consult with global experts on giraffes before issuing her final report, expected to be released by early August.
The zoo announced the calf's death Wednesday, nearly a week after it died.
Zoo spokeswoman Jody Henderson said staff were waiting for the results of a necropsy before making the news public.
"We could have released a statement the day of the death and basically said a giraffe had died and we're waiting for the post-mortem, but we thought that would actually bring more questions, and more assumptions made, which, in our opinion, was not the right way to do it because you need to know some facts," Henderson said.
A release from the zoo issued Wednesday said the calf, born June 21, had suffered several rib fractures and pneumonia.
Bruce Burton, the zoo's veterinarian, told The Sun it was a difficult delivery for the cow, a first-time mother, with staff intervening to help birth the calf. The mother, which was drugged during the birth process, later stepped on her newborn baby, breaking its ribs.
Burton gave the calf only a very slim chance of survival from the beginning, but said even he was surprised when her health appeared to improve daily. On June 29, however, all hopes faded when the calf took a downturn, and died.
Henderson said zoo staff stayed with the baby giraffe "around the clock" until her death, trying to keep her alive. The cow rejected the calf at birth, and staff were forced to bottle feed her.
"We were there for her 24 hours a day," she said.
Henderson welcomed the SPCA investigators, saying, "As always, our doors are open." She said the zoo did nothing wrong, and has nothing to hide.
"We're frustrated," she said. "What we're trying to do is do the right thing here. No. 1 priority at all times is given to our animals."
An earlier investigation launched by the SPCA into the zoo resulted in two cruelty charges being laid against its owners for allegedly keeping a two-year-old hippo, Hazina, alone in a windowless shed, with a pool so shallow she couldn't float.
That case is currently before the courts, with the next appearance in Surrey Provincial Court set for July 31.
Drever said she was at the zoo June 21, the same day the calf was born, to examine Hazina and her new enclosure, which was completed earlier in the month.
"Quite frankly, I couldn't see her because she was in her pool," Drever said. "I observed her nostrils every five minutes or so, and that was wonderful. That [the pool and surrounding pen] is what she should have been in for the past 19 months."
Drever said she was not informed of the calf's birth while she was touring the zoo property.
"They are under no obligation to do so," she said, "but it would have been nice to have been kept informed."