Giraffe Calf Dies at Dallas Zoo: 3-Month-Old Kipenzi Broke Neck

A Dallas Zoo giraffe calf died after an accident Tuesday that broke the baby giraffe's neck.

A zoo statement says Kipenzi, the 3-month-old giraffe whose birth was watched live on the Internet worldwide in April, died about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when she ran into a perimeter edge of the barn that's part of the giraffe herd's habitat, The Associated Press reported. According to the statement, zoo keepers were routinely shifting the herd into their night barn when the calf began to scamper about the feeding yard. Zoo officials say she died immediately from three broken neck vertebrae.

Kipenzi's mother, Katie, was allowed to visit the calf's body before veterinarians and zoo keepers removed it.

The giraffe calf's birth April 10 was live-streamed on the Animal Planet website. Kipenzi is Swahili for "loved one."

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