Another devastating loss happened as the highly anticipated birth of a baby giraffe at the Columbus Zoo ended with the animal’s death. The calf was said to have suffered from serious congenital defects and would not have survived after birth. According to a report by People, the team at the zoo did everything they could to save the baby, even performing an emergency C-section on the Masai giraffe mom.
Labor began in the middle of the afternoon around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, December 4. The excitement turned to concern when they realized that something was wrong. The baby giraffe was coming out with its back hooves first, which is quite rare and most do not survive when that happens. In a normal delivery, the front hooves come out first.