BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Baton Rouge Zoo has announced the death of Burreaux, a 20-month-old giraffe.
According to the zoo, veterinary staff took measures to stabilize the giraffe after he suddenly developed a severe cough and overall agitation. Symptoms started on Tuesday, Sept. 7. The veterinary team reached out to other professionals in the United States seeking a possible diagnosis, but other veterinarians hadn’t experienced those symptoms in their giraffes.
Burreaux’s health failed to improve and died at 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 8.
The giraffe was born at the zoo on December 25, 2019. Burreaux was the first giraffe successfully born at the Baton Rouge Zoo since 2001.