Giraffe Dies at ZooWorld in Panama City Beach, Florida From Birth Defect

By | December 17, 2020

A giraffe died recently at ZooWorld, according to information provided by the zoo. 

While the zoo wouldn’t release details about the giraffe — including its time of death, gender, name, weight and height — a zoo official who did not want to talk on the record said its death was caused by an unpreventable birth defect. 

ZooWorld now has one giraffe, the official said.

The official added that a vet was at the zoo when the animal died and information on the incident likely wouldn’t be released. 

“When we open it up to outside conversation, it makes it more difficult for (staff) to mourn,” the official said. “We prefer to let our staff handle this the way they want to handle it and not have interferences from outside sources.”

The giraffe’s death comes more than a month after the zoo expanded its wildlife selection with the addition of Tug Mutton, a 7-year-old Baird’s tapir that weighs more than 500 pounds. 

-Courtesy of our friends at the News Herald