It happened around 2:15 p.m. According to one witness, visitors initially applauded the birth. “But when it became clear that the animal had died, it was very sad and intense. Parents took their children away from the window and fences en masse. The caregivers were also devastated. Especially the boy who grabbed his mouth and tongue first was very upset afterwards.”

Veterinarian Martine van Zijl-Langhout was also present during the birth. She told AT5 that it was a “complicated birth.” In fact, the front legs and snout were supposed to come first, but the back leg also came. This meant that the vet and Artis staff had to come to the rescue.

I withdrew

“Normally, we could never do that, and a giraffe can give birth on its own,” says Van Zijll Langhout. At first, they tried to pull the hind leg back, but that didn’t work. Then Van Zijll Langhout and the Artis staff pulled the calf out in one go.

The calf died during birth. The cause of death is still under investigation. According to van Zijl-Langhout, there is a possibility that the calf did not get enough air because it was stuck. It is also possible that the calf was positioned incorrectly because there was something wrong with it already.

The vet says she is happy the calf is out, otherwise it could have had dire consequences for the mother. “It’s very sad, but it could have been much worse. We were lucky that the giraffe cooperated with us and allowed us to help with the birth.” Van Zijl-Langhout stresses that it is “very rare” for giraffe births to end this way.

The dead calf remained in the cage for a while so the mother could say goodbye. “At some point she ran away, so we removed the calf,” the vet said. She immediately told visitors what had happened.