Torontonians are sharing their condolences after a two-year-old giraffe at the Toronto Zoo died while under anesthesia during a surgical operation.
On Thursday morning, the zoo announced that its masai giraffe named Matu had stopped breathing after undergoing a castration procedure. Matu was born at the zoo on Feb. 25, 2022 and is the zoo’s youngest giraffe.
“This is a very difficult announcement to make as our team is devastated and hurting. Our team did an incredible job carefully planning for this procedure for months. As we shared yesterday, with any procedure under general anesthesia we knew there would be risks, especially with large vertebrates,” the zoo said in a press release.
“As we continue to learn about the importance of the individual animal’s experiences, physical health, behavioural health, and overall environment, we want to ensure that animals residing in our care are given every opportunity to thrive,” it continued.
In Matu’s case, the zoo says the best decision for his well-being was to remain in his family group with his mother, Mstari, and sister, Amani, rather than being isolated, which led to the procedure.
Though the young giraffe has passed, the zoo’s reproductive science team were able to collect and bank living genetic material from him to be housed in its biobank.
According to the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN), Masai giraffes have been classified as endangered since December 2018.
The organization notes that less than 35,000 Masai giraffes survive in the wild and have experienced a decline of over 50 per cent in the past 30 years due to illegal hunting and habitat loss.
The zoo says its entire team is in mourning and the news will be difficult to process for the broader Zoo community.
“If you are visiting the zoo in the coming days, we respectfully ask you to give our team space as we process this loss and grieve his passing. Due to the nature of the event we will be providing our staff with access to grief counselling services,” the zoo said.
A necropsy will be conducted to determine Matu’s cause of death and more information will be provided once the results are available.
Online, some users are sharing their condolences for the zoo’s loss.
“Sad news. My condolences to everyone at The Toronto Zoo and all visitors,” one X user said.
“I’m so sorry, Toronto Zoo,” another user said.
“Condolences to everyone and especially Mom, Mstari, and sister Amani,” another user commented.
