Woodland Park Zoo gazelle dies from injuries

Woodland Park Zoo gazelle dies from injuries

A herd of Grant's gazelle are shown African Savanna of Woodland Park Zoo. (Photo: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo)

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Story Published: Jul 24, 2008 at 12:37 PM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2008 at 11:39 PM PDT

By KOMO Staff

SEATTLE – A Grant’s gazelle at Woodland Park Zoo has died from injuries apparently caused by another animal in the African savanna exhibit where it lived.

Zoo staff discovered the gazelle sustained significant injuries to the face over the weekend, including a swollen eye. The 7-year-old male animal lived in the savanna exhibit with three other gazelles, giraffe, zebras, oryx and ostrich.

The gazelle was treated for its injuries but later died, despite the best efforts of staff veterinary personnel, explained the zoo’s interim director of animal health, Dr. Kelly Helmick.

A post-mortem examination confirmed trauma to the head and detected bruising to the heart and lungs.

The 4.5-acre African savanna exhibit has housed a community of mixed species found in the dry grasslands of Africa since it opened in 1980.

The animals on the savanna exhibit normally live compatibly. The life expectancy of gazelles is 12 to 14 years in the wild and in zoos.

Zoo officials said the accidental death of an animal is rare in captivity.

Grant's gazelles live in southeastern Sudan, southern Ethiopia, southwestern Somalia, northern Tanzania, northeastern Uganda and Kenya. The slender, long-legged antelopes inhabit semi-desert areas, open savannas and treeless plains.

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