A male giraffe born last month in Fresno's Chaffee Zoo died on the evening of Oct. 11. The giraffe weighed 188 pounds at birth and had yet to be named.
The giraffe was part of a special preview event for the new African Adventure exhibit set to open later in the week at the California zoo, according to SF Gate.
Dan Subaitis, general curator of the zoo, said that the giraffe calf ran into a single wire fence which probably broke his neck. The wire had been put up to save the trees from the animals. Subaitis said zoo officials are still trying to discern what made the giraffe run, reports ABC News.
"It's really, we've had the exact same-type situation in their exhibit for a decade, in their old exhibit, and so for this to become an issue was really a surprise, but it is one we are dealing with," Scott Barton of the Chaffee Zoo told ABC 30, explaining that the calf had been born in the same enclosure and should have been familiar with the environment.
Two veterinarians had rushed to the location, but could not save the animal. A necroscopy is scheduled to determine the exact cause of death.
