A second giraffe in a week has died at the Greater Vancouver Zoo, arousing further concern from the Vancouver Humane Society over how the facility cares for its exotic animals.
Eleah, a 23-year-old giraffe, was found dead by zoo staff on Saturday around 7:30 a.m. in her heated barn. Her three-year-old calf Amryn died days earlier on Nov. 14 after he was discovered lying on the ground outside the barn in his enclosure.
"One of the concerns we have is that these two deaths have taken place during a period of cold weather," Peter Fricker of the Vancouver Humane Society told CTV News. "We do know that giraffes are susceptible to cold weather."
The zoo waits for necropsy results to determine what caused the animals to die.
Chilly temperatures were blamed for the deaths of two giraffes in 2009 at the Mountain View Conservation Centre in Langley, B.C.
Jody Henderson, spokeswoman of the Greater Vancouver Zoo, explained that where she works animals are protected from cold environments.
"The animals that require heat and warmth at this time of year are provided with it. The giraffes are definitely a case of that,' Henderson said.
She described the second giraffe's death at the Vancouver zoo as a "terrible tragedy" and "an awful coincidence."
While she also added that at 23-years-old Eleah was considered elderly for a giraffe, Fricker disagreed.
"The average life expectancy of a giraffe in captivity is around 28, so we would still regard this death as premature," he said.
This is not the first time the Greater Vancouver Zoo has come under scrutiny by animal rights advocates.
In 2006, the SPCA accused the zoo of animal cruelty for housing a hippopotamus called Hazina in an enclosure that was too small. The charge of animal cruelty was eventually stayed when the zoo agreed to improve the animal's living space.
The sudden death of four zebras following the introduction of two Cape buffalos into their enclosure in 2009 also prompted an investigation by animal cruelty officials.
The giraffes' recent deaths have revived the debate over whether animals from warm climates should be kept in Canadian zoos.
"Why are we keeping an African animal on the West Coast of Canada? It's not really an appropriate place. There's always going to be problems," Fricker said.
Fricker wants to learn more about the temperature of the giraffes' barn and if their diets were suitable for the climate. He's also calling for the zoo to stop housing animals from different geographic regions.
"What we've asked the zoo to do is to phase out its collection of exotic animals and eventually convert itself into a sanctuary for native species," he said.
The Greater Vancouver Zoo now has one giraffe remaining in its facility, Eleah's longtime partner Jafari. Zoo staff with be monitoring Jafari's physical as well as emotional health because giraffes generally live in herds.
