Giraffe dies at Hyderabad zoo

Hyderabad: A 20-year-old male Giraffe at Hyderabad’s Nehru Zoological Park died Monday night. The zoo authorities said that ‘Tsunami Basant’ succumbed to old age complications.

According to zoo authorities, Basant had been suffering with arthritis in the hind legs for the last two years and was under treatment. Tsunami Basant was born during the tsunami calamity in the year 2004 in National Zoological Park, New Delhi; he was brought to Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad, as a part of an animal exchange programme between the zoos in the year 2009. The animal was under treatment under the guidance of Dr M A Hakeem, deputy director (veterinary), NZP, Hyderabad. After the demise of Basant, the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad is now housing only one male Giraffe (Sunny).

The curator said that the postmortem has been conducted to ascertain the actual cause of death with the veterinary experts from VBRI, Veterinary College, Rajendranagar, CCMB Lacones, and so on. All the samples have been collected and sent to VBRI for further examination.

Dr Sunil S Hiremath, director (FAC) and curator, Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad, along with all the staff members, paid condolences, offered floral tributes, and observed two minutes of silence at the enclosure.

Speaking on the occasion, the director said Basant was one of the star attractions of the zoo; he used to attract a large number of visitors towards his side with his graceful walk. He stated that the zoo has lost a major animal from its collection.