Dallas Zoo’s tallest giraffe, Jesse, is 3rd of his species to die at the zoo this month

The Dallas Zoo’s 17-foot-tall giraffe Jesse died Friday, marking the third death of a giraffe at the zoo this month.

Jesse, 14, came to the zoo in October 2008 from a wildlife preserve in Santa Rosa, Calif.

The zoo said in a statement Saturday that Jesse died after exhibiting symptoms and a quick deterioration that “closely mirrored” what another giraffe, Auggie, experienced before dying last week.

Auggie, who was 19, had been “dealing with age-related health issues that led to liver failure,” the zoo said.

The zoo said it was waiting for results from a necropsy and other lab work to determine how Jesse, the zoo’s tallest giraffe, died, and whether it might be connected to Auggie’s death.

“While this immediately raised concerns over a possible connection, we still have intense work ahead of us to establish an exact cause or identify a possible link between the two deaths,” the zoo said in its statement.

According to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the organization that accredits the Dallas Zoo, the average life expectancy for male giraffes in captivity is about 15 years. For females, it’s 20 years.

Another giraffe at the zoo, a 3-month-old calf named Marekani, was euthanized Oct. 3 after injuring her leg while running along an inclined section of her exhibit. Marekani’s death prompted the zoo to alter the terrain of the giraffe exhibit and add cameras to more closely monitor the animals’ behavior.

Two other giraffes have died at the zoo in recent years: In 2019, 1-year-old Witten died under anesthesia. In 2015, 3-month-old Kipenzi died after breaking three neck vertebrae when she ran into a wall in her habitat.