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"People love the animals just like we do and so it is definitely a loss" | Zoo, community mourns loss of giraffes

Penelope and Zuri died just four days apart.

WACO, Texas — Cameron Park Zoo officials have requested an independent review following the deaths of two Masai giraffes, Penelope and Zuri.

A necropsy, an animal autopsy, has been performed on both giraffes, but the results won't be in for weeks. Duane Hills, interim director for the Zoo, said he also wants the independent review done to ensure his staff didn't miss anything and to help get answers as far as what really happened to the giraffes.

"We would like answers just like the rest of the public," Hills added. "It is a devastating loss to the zoo, but it's also a devastating loss to the public. This is the community zoo and so people love the animals just like we do and so it is definitely a loss."

Penelope, a 10-year-old female Masai giraffe, died on the morning of July 19 after falling ill the night before. 

Hills said giraffes can be good as masking their behaviors as it's part of their survival techniques. However, that can create challenges for their zookeepers as it's hard to tell when they're sick.

"We did notice small behavior changes, like sitting down a little more, but again, nothing that would cause significant concern," Hills said. "We did monitor her, we had our vet take a look at her just to make sure, but then her decline was very rapid."

It left her less-than-a-month-old calf, Zuri, an orphan and leaning on being bottle fed. Hills said something dramatically changed in the young Masai that has everyone shocked. Just four days after Penelope died, Zuri did too.

"We were able to transition her to to a bottle and she was nursing from a bottle and was doing very well and we were very encouraged by the results," Hills explained. This was very sudden and shocking, and we were surprised. We didn't see this coming because she was doing very well despite losing her mom."

Hills said that around five giraffe caretakers are all mourning. He told 6 News it's hard to understand how the two remaining giraffes in the exhibit are handling the deaths, but they do know there are two missing members of the herd.

The community is also noticing the loss and grieving Penelope and Zuri. Some stopped by the exhibit to pay their respects.

"I know our community loves our zoo, and we we are just heartbroken for the zoo and for the volunteers and the staff that work with the zoo because they invest so much in the animals here," Becky Shoemake, a Waco resident who has been visiting the zoo for 20 years. "It was just so sad to hear about the mom and then the baby passing."

"I hate the fact that the giraffes are dead because all the kids and all the people who live here, you know, seeing that the giraffes are dying is just sad," said Jaden Diles, a Waco resident who has been visiting the zoo since he was a child.

Dane, the male Masai giraffe, and Jenny, a female reticulated giraffe remain at the exhibit in the Zoo.

The Masai giraffe is the largest species of giraffe, according to the zoo. They are native to Central and Southern Kenya, as well as Tanzania. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Masai giraffes as endangered, mostly due to poaching and habitat fragmentation.

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