Louisville Zoo giraffe gives birth, but calf was stillborn
Even more sad news from the Louisville Zoo this week — just days after the zoo announced the death of a baby seal, the zoo now says the baby giraffe en route was stillborn. Zoo staff said the mother, Kianga, gave birth to the stillborn calf at 2:52 pm on Wednesday after two and a half hours of active labor. Kianga had not shown any signs of complications during her 15-month pregnancy, the zoo said. The calf was large for a full-term giraffe birth of 165 pounds; usually calves weigh between 125 and 150 pounds. Zoo staff said they were closely monitoring the birth nearby on closed-circuit TV so as not to disturb Kianga during labor and delivery. “Any decision to intervene is made very carefully and includes a risk-benefit assessment with consideration for the safety of personnel and animals,” a press release said. “In these situations, our number one priority is the health and well-being of the mother,” said Dr. Zoli Gyimesi, the zoo’s senior veterinarian. “Kianga is a first-time mother, so we wanted to provide a quiet space where she could give birth to the calf as naturally as possible, without disruption.” They said that after the birth, Kianga was immediately attentive and showed maternal instincts towards the stillborn calf and stayed close to him for a while. Kianga showed no physical signs of distress and giraffe keepers will be watching her for the next few days. “You can imagine our keepers are devastated,” said Dan Maloney, director of the Louisville Zoo. “To care for a mother-to-be for 15 months, mark her progress, work ahead for that day, it’s just so heartbreaking when a delivery doesn’t go as planned, even though we recognize that there are risks to any pregnancy. moment, we will comfort our teams, mourn Kianga and hopefully gain insights for the next giraffe birth.” A necropsy was performed on Thursday night. The zoo said it will be several weeks before all pathological results are available.
Even more sad news from the Louisville Zoo this week — just days after announcing the death of a baby seal, the zoo now says the baby giraffe on the way was stillborn.
Zoo staff said the mother, Kianga, gave birth to the stillborn calf at 2:52 p.m. Wednesday after two and a half hours of active labor.
Kianga had not shown any signs of complications during her 15-month pregnancy, the zoo said. The calf was large for a full-term giraffe birth of 165 pounds; typically calves weigh between 125-150 pounds.
Zoo staff said they were closely monitoring the birth nearby on closed-circuit TV so as not to disturb Kianga during labor and delivery.
“Any decision to intervene is made very carefully and includes a risk-benefit assessment with consideration for the safety of personnel and animals,” a press release said.
“In these situations, our number one priority is the health and well-being of the mother,” says Dr. Zoli Gyimesi, the zoo’s senior veterinarian. “Kianga is a first-time mother, so we wanted to provide a quiet space where she could give birth to the calf as naturally as possible, without disruption.”
They said that after the birth, Kianga was immediately attentive, showed maternal instincts towards the stillborn calf and stayed close to him for some time.
Kianga showed no physical signs of distress and giraffe keepers will be watching her for the next few days.
“You can imagine our keepers are devastated,” said Dan Maloney, director of the Louisville Zoo. “To care for a mother-to-be for 15 months, mark her progress, work ahead for that day, it’s just so heartbreaking when a delivery doesn’t go as planned, even though we recognize that there are risks to any pregnancy. moment, we will comfort our teams, mourn Kianga and hopefully gain insights for the next birth of a giraffe.”
An autopsy was performed on Thursday evening. The zoo said it will be several weeks before all pathological results are available.