A “magnificent” giraffe died in a freak accident on New Year’s Day when he got his head stuck in a door while roving around his habitat at the Toronto Zoo.
Staff at the popular attraction called the loss of the 13-year-old Masai giraffe, Kiko, “heartbreaking” after the male animal arrived at the zoo more than a decade ago as part of an effort to grow the species.
The same day the giraffe died, he was allowed to access a new part of his behind-the-scenes habitat.
“True to his curious nature, he began exploring the space and tragically became caught in an opening door,” the zoo said in a Facebook post.
Even as the staff attempted to help Kiko, the distressed animal “panicked and sustained injuries that, due to the unique anatomy of his species, proved fatal” Thursday afternoon, the zoo said.
The zoo called the death a “tragic and unfortunate incident.”
“This loss is impacting Kiko’s Wildlife Care team particularly hard, as shifting giraffes is a normal routine they have done thousands of times without incident,” the zoo said.
The body of Kiko, who was previously recovering from a hoof injury, will be examined at the University of Guelph in Ontario while the zoo’s health and safety service team investigates what went wrong.
In an effort to grow the Masai giraffe population, Kiko had helped birth two calves with a female giraffe called Mstari with a third baby giraffe due in early 2026, zoo officials said.
Kiko was born at the Greenville Zoo in South Carolina in 2012 before relocating to north of the border.
The zoo remembered Kiko as “a magnificent giraffe who touched so many hearts.”
