Giraffe fight at LR Zoo leads to death of 13-year-old animal

A 13-year-old male giraffe died at the Little Rock Zoo early Sunday after he and another male giraffe fought inside a barn, zoo officials said Monday.

Jigsaw had lived at the Little Rock Zoo since his birth in 2000.

Officials took his body to the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission laboratory for a necropsy, which is an autopsy performed on an animal.

Mesi, an 8-year-old giraffe housed in the same barn as Jigsaw, broke through a large metal dividing gate that separated the two animals, and the two sparred until Jigsaw fell, zoo officials said.

Zoo spokesman Susan Altrui said the exact cause of Jigsaw’s death is under investigation, but she said it was likely from a combination of the fall and stress. Mesi did not suffer any major injuries, officials said.

The zoo’s general curator is investigating the circumstances, and zoo officials already have taken measures to improve safety of the dividing gate inside the giraffe barn, Altrui said.

Altrui said Mesi had a history of aggression toward Jigsaw, and a $30,000 dividing area was put into the giraffe enclosure to prevent any altercations.

“It’s not uncommon for two males to neck spar,” Altrui said. “That is something that is common in the wild, too. But in a zoo, it’s different. Mesi was larger than [Jigsaw].”

Altrui said the zoo had been talking with the Abilene, Texas, zoo to move Mesi there before Jigsaw’s death, but work at the Abilene Zoo caused delays. The move is still a possibility, Altrui said.

The Little Rock Zoo is trying to determine “a course of action for its giraffe program,” with help from the Species Survival Plan Program, which cooperatively manages specific species within the facilities participating in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums organization, zoo officials said.

Jigsaw, born with a rare blood disease known as babesiosis, was hand-raised by zoo staff the first few months of his life. Zoo staff members gave Jigsaw the nickname “BJ” or “Barney Junior” in honor of his father Barney, a giraffe who lived at the zoo from 1997-2006. During his life, Jigsaw suffered from health problems but was in good condition at the time of the fight with Mesi, zoo officials said.

Jigsaw’s death marks the fourth death this year at the Little Rock Zoo.

In January, Nyla, a 20-year old lion, died of liver cancer. Jewell, a 62-year-old elephant, was euthanized in September after zoo staff found her on her side and unable to stand.

Also in September, a 33-year-old black rhino named Navasha died of a gastrointestinal illness.

Little Rock Zoo Director Mike Blakely said Monday that Jigsaw’s death has been tough on everyone at the facility.

“To say this is a sad day is an understatement and doesn’t grasp the full magnitude of this loss to the zoo family,” he said.