January 20, 2014 - 10:49 PM
TORONTO - The Toronto Zoo has announced that ”Ginetta,” the oldest giraffe in a Canadian zoo, died on Monday afternoon.
The notice, posted on the zoo’s Facebook page, said the Masai giraffe was born at the facility in 1983 and had turned 30 last August.
The zoo said it is estimated that a giraffe can live 20-25 years in the wild.
The giraffe was also part of a milestone event last October when she became a great aunt to the zoo’s new baby giraffe, ”Mstari.”
The zoo had posted a message last Friday to celebrate the youngster turning three months old and that she was already almost eight feet tall.
The zoo did not mention a cause of death, but added ”Ginetta” lived longer than 96 per cent of the female Masai giraffes in the North American population.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014