Giraffe Necropsy Completed

Veterinarians worked late last night to complete a necropsy (animal autopsy) on Azog, the 14-year-old male giraffe who died in surgery on Thursday afternoon.

The necropsy confirmed that kidney stones had blocked Azog's urethra and that this blockage set off a series of metabolic complications that led to his death.

Zoo animal keepers called in the Zoo's veterinary staff early Thursday when Azog showed signs of distress. When veterinarians suspected that kidney stones were bocking Azog's urethra, the hospital and keeper staffs worked quickly to stage an emergency operation to break up the blockage. Without the surgery, staff knew that Azog would soon die from a ruptured bladder. Azog died several hours later, during surgery.

At the necropsy, veterinarians discovered thousands of small kidney stones tightly packed inside more than half of Azog's urethra. The extent of the blockage made the task of clearing the urethra virtually impossible. Azog died under anesthesia, at about 2:30 p.m., while veterinarians were trying to open his urethra to allow urine to exit into his perineal area.

Dr. Loomis explained that this type of surgery is difficult in giraffes because of the complicated anatomy of their urinary tracts. As he said, “We knew there were risks because this is a species that is extremely susceptible to problems under anesthesia. It was a calculated risk that we had to take.”