A baby has died after suffering a broken neck as staff scramble to work out what happened to her. The calf was found dead at Zoo Miami in
Florida, , on Saturday morning (March 16) according to spokesman Ron Magill. Experts aren't sure what caused the young female to fatally break her neck, with the incident having taken place overnight and out of view of zoo employees. It is thought something may have scared the calf before she suffered the wound. Magill said: "Because the event that led to this trauma happened overnight and was not personally observed, zoo officials can only speculate that something startled the animal and caused it to run into a fence, resulting in the fatal ." He continued: "This has been a devastating loss, and all procedures are being carefully evaluated to help ensure the prevention of any similar incidents in the future." No other resident giraffes are showing signs of injury or trauma. However zoo will "continue to closely monitor the herd for any indication of stress or abnormal behaviour while searching for any indication of what may have led to this very sad incident", according to Magill. The giraffe was born to parents Sabra, 13, and Malcolm, six, on December 15. She was the 60th giraffe born at the zoo and was just over five feet tall. Giraffes are native to 21 African countries including Kenya, Chad,
South Africa and Zimbabwe. However they are considered vulnerable to extinction in the wild. There are about 117,000 left in the wild with some subspecies' numbers dwindling rapidly. The Daily Star is now on
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