Internet sensation Kipenzi the baby giraffe dies in freak accident

A baby giraffe, whose birth was seen by three million people online, has suffered a broken neck and died while playing with her half-brother in Dallas Zoo.

Three-month-old Kipenzi – Swahili for "loved one" – was running through the Giants of Savanna area of the zoo when the "tragic, heartbreaking accident" occurred, according to a Q&A on the zoo's website.

"When the zoo closed, Kip and big brother Kopano wanted to play more. They chased each other through the habitat and ran in big loops around it. They got to the end of the habitat and Kopano turned the right way, but Kip instead made a sharp turn into the wall. She was a calf; she played like a calf."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The zoo also denied the suggestion that the accident was caused by the size of Kipenzi's enclosure. "The habitat is not too small," it said. "Yesterday was no different than any other day since May 1, when Kipenzi first went out. She has been exploring and running in that yard for three months, and that's essential to her growth and development."

In April Kipenzi's birth became an internet sensation when, according to The Independent, "some three million people across the world watched the birth on a livestream hosted by Animal Planet, and helped the zoo raise more than $35,000 (£22,500) for giraffe conservation in Africa".

Reports in America have claimed the Zoo has had issues with animal safety before. "Federal inspectors ordered the zoo to make changes last summer to correct concerns about 'animal handling' after a staff member was hospitalised after being attacked by a lion that escaped its enclosure" an NBC report claims.

The same report recounts an incident involving an escaped chimp in 2011, but says that an inspection by the US Department of Agriculture in June this year found no violations.

The zoo's Giants of Savanna exhibit was named America's third best zoo habitat by USA Today earlier this year.