A young giraffe just a couple of days after it was born at the Taipei Zoo. (AFP PHOTO / TAIPEI ZOO)
Taipei:
A baby giraffe which was denied her mother's milk has died of malnutrition in Taipei zoo despite a two-month-long battle to save her.
The fate of "Hsiao He" -- whose 10-year-old mother was also born in the zoo but who refused to feed her calf -- made headlines in online media and on television.
"The mother was very nervous. She stayed away when her baby tried to approach for milk. For unknown reasons, the baby had since refused to open her mouth," Taipei Zoo spokesman Eric Tsao told AFP.
Hsiao He, who weighed 59 kilograms (130 pounds) at birth, died early Sunday weighing only 68 kilograms despite round-the-clock care by a team of zookeepers.
The spokesman said zookeepers had struggled in vain to persuade Hsiao He to accept goat's milk from a feeding bottle.
"We still don't know why she would not open her mouth," he said, adding she may not have had a peer to learn from.
The fate of "Hsiao He" -- whose 10-year-old mother was also born in the zoo but who refused to feed her calf -- made headlines in online media and on television.
"The mother was very nervous. She stayed away when her baby tried to approach for milk. For unknown reasons, the baby had since refused to open her mouth," Taipei Zoo spokesman Eric Tsao told AFP.
Hsiao He, who weighed 59 kilograms (130 pounds) at birth, died early Sunday weighing only 68 kilograms despite round-the-clock care by a team of zookeepers.
The spokesman said zookeepers had struggled in vain to persuade Hsiao He to accept goat's milk from a feeding bottle.
"We still don't know why she would not open her mouth," he said, adding she may not have had a peer to learn from.
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