SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Hogle Zoo announced Monday that Kipenzi, a 15-year-old giraffe, was euthanized Friday after showing signs of gastrointestinal dysfunction.
Keepers noted Kip's appetite severely decreased in early July and she didn't have bowel movements.
Giraffes are ruminants, meaning they have four stomach chambers. Necropsy results showed gastric ulcers in one of Kipenzi's stomach chambers and areas of bloating and redness in her intestine, which appeared to have shut down. Tissue samples were taken for further testing and microscopic analysis by expert zoo pathologists.
"Kip's GI problem was unforeseen," Erika Crook, the zoo's associate veterinarian, said in a statement. "We'd been working with Kip daily trying to resolve her foot problem."
Kipenzi didn't have a normal right rear foot because of an injury from over a decade ago. Her outside "toe" was growing at an abnormal angle. Last year, the other toe, her inside toe, became infected. The zoo's animal care and veterinary teams aggressively treated her foot with antibiotics, flushing, bandages, laser treatments and progressive stem cells.
The animal care team inserted and maintained a catheter in her neck vein allowing them to administer antibiotics intravenously for over a month, something that had been done before in an adult giraffe.
"We will not know for certain until the lab results come back if there is a connection between Kip's GI issues and her foot," Crook said. "But antibiotics and pain meds can be hard on the GI tract."
"Kipenzi was the most special giraffe any of us have ever known," Melissa Farr, lead keeper in the African Savanna, said in the statement. "She taught many new keepers the ropes of giraffe care."
"She was so much more than a giraffe," said Holly Peterson, who cared for Kip for 14 years. "She was my friend, my co-worker and part of my family. She taught me so much and brought so many amazing people into my life. She was also a calm influence on new giraffes, like Minka, and taught them it's OK to trust us."
Kipenzi came to Hogle Zoo from Brookfield Zoo in Chicago in 2005. She moved from the old giraffe barn to the new African Savanna in 2014. According to the zoo, she was a three-time mother and "auntie" to 10 month-old Georgetta and 2 year-old Minka, who recently came to the zoo from Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas two weeks ago and is still in quarantine.
Along with the young giraffes, the zoo also has adult female Pogo and male Riley.