WACO, Texas — Officials at a central Texas zoo announced the death of an adult female Masai giraffe.
In a Facebook post, officials with the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco said that Penelope died early Wednesday. She was 10.
The giraffe had given birth to a calf, named Zuri, on June 23, KWTX-TV reported.
“Penelope became ill late last night, and the Zoo’s veterinarian and staff worked with her during the night, and unfortunately, she passed early this morning,” Cameron Park Zoo officials wrote on Facebook.
Penelope was born May 9, 2013, and came to the Texas facility from the San Diego Zoo, officials said.
A necropsy was performed on Wednesday to determine the animal’s cause of death, KWTX reported. Results will be received in several weeks.
According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, there are only 45,000 Masai giraffes remaining in the wild. The animal is native to central and southern Kenya and throughout Tanzania.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature, the global authority on the conservation status of wild animals and plants, said that Masai giraffes are an endangered species, KXXV-TV reported. The species has had its numbers reduced by poachers and habitat fragmentation, according to the television station.
