MIAMI (WFLA) – ZooMiami announced on Monday the difficult decision to euthanize their giraffe Pongo.
The zoo says the nearly 12-year-old giraffe Pongo had been suffering from increasing pain due to a fracture.
“He will be terribly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him and the privilege of working with him,” ZooMiami’s Communications Director Ron Magill said in a statement.
To treat Pongo veterinarians immobilized him in September with him also receiving laser therapy and custom shoes to help promote the healing of the fracture and alleviate his pain, according to Magill.
“Initially, this resulted in him walking normally which was a huge relief to the team. However, several weeks after the procedure, the shoes detached and sometime following the loss of the shoes, he apparently re-injured that hoof and began to again favor it significantly,” Magill said.
After none of the treatments were effective, veterinarians decided to immobilize Pongo again on Monday morning.
“Sadly, the X-rays revealed that within the last two weeks he had further fractured his foot in a way that prevented the Animal Health team from being able to treat it successfully and the painful decision was made to euthanize him while he was still under anesthesia,” Magill wrote.
