Yahoo Finance Newborn giraffe dies when mom steps on it after live-streamed birth, Nashville Zoo says
A newborn giraffe that almost died in labor was accidentally killed hours later when the mother stepped stepped on it, officials at the Nashville Zoo in Tennessee said.
Thousands of people reportedly watched the calf’s birth live-streamed on WKRN and the zoo’s “Baby Boom” page.
“We are devastated over the loss of Nasha’s calf,” Rick Schwartz, Nashville Zoo’s president and CEO, said in a blog post. “Our staff has worked tirelessly to make sure this calf was given the best possible care. We moved from fear of a stillborn to joy of revival to anguish.”
The Nashville Zoo encompasses 188 acres and is the ninth-largest in the country by landmass, according to its website. It’s home to roughly 3,000 animals from 350 species.
Pregnant giraffe Nasha went into labor Saturday but complications quickly developed, the zoo said in the post.
When it became apparent the delivery had stalled, officials said a veterinary team led by Dr. Matthew DeLisle from Tennessee Equine Hospital intervened to help successfully deliver the calf. On an initial exam, Dr. Heather Schwartz, Nashville Zoo’s director of veterinary medicine, said the calf “appeared to be thriving.”
“We moved the newborn to be with her mother and the two were bonding,” Schwartz said. “During this time, Nasha may have inadvertently injured her calf. The giraffe keepers noticed that the calf was in distress.”
Caregivers tried to intervene but were too late, according to the blog post. The zoo said an initial necropsy indicated the calf suffered trauma to the neck.
The Nashville Zoo plans to conduct further testing to see if there were underlying causes that contributed to its death.
“This was Nasha’s first birth,” the zoo said. “She is doing well and the giraffe keepers will be giving her an abundance of comfort and care for the next few days.”
