SEVEN YEAR OLD GIRAFFE DIES IN A CAGE

BY mknewslink reporter ——

A seven-year-old male giraffe has died of anxiety after being caged
and loaded onto a truck at a Taiwan zoo, the latest animal death to
spark angry calls for tougher protection laws.

The giraffe — named Hsiao Chiu — was due to be transported from the
municipal Taipei Zoo to a private zoo for mating when he began to
struggle and then collapsed, officials said Thursday.

“The zoo lost Hsiao Chiu in a painful accident,” Taipei Zoo said in a
statement, adding the trip had already been postponed from June so the
sensitive animal could get familiar with the process.

The animal had died before the truck had even left for the private zoo
in Hsinchu city, about 70 kilometres (43.5 miles) from Taipei.

An autopsy showed the giraffe was suffering from pneumonia and anxiety
from the transportation, which triggered breathing difficulties and
muscle damage.

The giraffe died of lung and heart failure.

Animal rights advocates criticised the zoo while vowing to continue to
push for tougher laws to protect animals in captivity.

“This kind of negligence that leads to animal deaths should have been
prevented — but it keeps happening,” said Chen Yu-min, director of
the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan.

The giraffe’s death made the front-pages of some local newspapers,
which also criticised the zoo for failing to detect its illness.

Giraffe dies ‘of anxiety’ in latest Taiwan animal scandal

The giraffe — named Hsiao Chiu — was due to be transported from the
municipal Taipei Zoo to a private zoo for mating when he began to
struggle and then collapsed, officials said Thursday