July 5, 2004
Giraffe, Ostrich Apparently Drowned in Sinkhole at Louisiana Zoo
(Monroe-AP) -- A veterinarian calls it a freak accident. A giraffe and an
ostrich are dead after apparently drowning in a 15-foot sinkhole at a north
Louisiana zoo.
The sinkhole, 9 feet in diameter, was created by a burst water main at the
Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo in Monroe, and the animals drowned sometime
Friday night or Saturday morning.
They were buried Saturday in the zoo's African veldt, where they were both
held.
Visitors could NOT see the animals in the sinkhole and were blocked from
seeing their bodies removed and buried Saturday.
The Rothschild giraffe was on loan from the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester,
N.Y.
The ostrich was one of four females exhibited at the Monroe zoo for the past
four years.
Zoo veterinarian Tyler Thomas says the 17-foot, 3,000-pound giraffe was
probably getting a drink, then tumbled headfirst into the sinkhole when it
collapsed under his weight.
He says the ostrich was probably standing beside the giraffe.
