April the Giraffe's youngest calf dies at Texas zoo

April the giraffe at the East Texas Zoo and Gator Park ((East Texas Zoo and Gator Park))

The calf of viral star April the Giraffe has died due to an “unexpected and unpreventable” condition, zoo officials have confirmed.

On Thursday, the East Texas Zoo and Gator Park announced that April’s calf, Azizi, died during a veterinary exam on Tuesday.

In March 2019, around 3000,000 people tuned into the live-stream of the birth of Azizi, who was April’s  fifth calf born since she arrived at Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville in 2015.

Zoo officials said that the calf had recently received treatment for a parasitic issue, and said that it appeared to be working.

However, in a Facebook post on Thursday, the East Texas Zoo and Gator Park wrote: “Azizi was showing signs of improvement. However, on Tuesday, Azizi was down, and passed during a veterinary examination.

“Post-mortem review revealed a twisted gut around his cranial mesenteric artery, which was ultimately the cause of his death.”

They added: "This condition was entirely unexpected and unpreventable."

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