Death came unexpectedly

Schönbrunn Zoo: Baby giraffe passes away

The giraffe cub, which was born on November 14, sadly died last night.(Bild: APA/TIERGARTEN SCHÖNBRUNN)

Now the sad certainty: the recently born baby giraffe died at Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna on Friday night. It was clearly weak from the start and did not put on any weight. The keepers fought for the animal's survival for two weeks - unfortunately in vain.

"We are very sad: the giraffe cub, which was born on November 14, unfortunately passed away last night," said a statement from Schönbrunn Zoo on Friday. 

Death came unexpectedly for the zoo team
Right from the start, the young animal was much more delicate than other reticulated giraffe babies. The birth of the little reticulated giraffe was still picture-perfect. However, when it did not gain weight as expected, the team immediately began to feed it suitable milk - and with a lot of patience and effort, they succeeded.

 "However, the young animal has not yet accepted the alternative milk source because it is used to drinking from its mother. We are doing our best and fighting for its survival," says the zoo. For two weeks, animal keepers, vets and the curator fought for the animal's survival. Unfortunately in vain.

Body now undergoing pathological examination
"This sad turn of events was not foreseeable for us after yesterday, as the cub drank regularly from its mother and also accepted the supplementary food," it said in a statement. His mother was with him until the end. The body is now being pathologically examined at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.

Giraffe offspring died in 2023
In July 2023, the reticulated giraffes at Vienna Zoo had their last offspring, but the baby died after just a few weeks. As a pathological examination had shown at the time, the young animal was suffering from a bacterial infection. It was already very weak at birth, the zoo announced at the time.