Cops in the Portuguese capital say they have identified the culprit who offered the animal food right next to a sign saying not to
A GIRAFFE has died at Lisbon Zoo after a visitor tried to give it food – despite a ban on feeding the animals.
The 11-year-old animal fell into a ditch separating it from the public after a person who has been identified by police offered it something to eat.
The incident happened on Saturday afternoon and led to the area being cordoned off.
A zoo spokesman said the visitor tried to feed the Angolan Giraffe right next to a sign asking visitors not to.
Ines Carvalho added: “The animals are well-fed and people don’t need to bring food from home.”
The tragic animal made headlines around the world after giving birth to a calf at the zoo in November last year.
A video showing the birth was broadcast live on YouTube, making the creature a social media sensation.
The calf was born on November 16, 2017, after a 15-month pregnancy with a height of more than six feet.
Angolan Giraffes, also known as Namibian Giraffes, are a subspecies found in parts of south-western Africa.
Around 13,000 of the animals are estimated to remain in the wild, with about 20 kept in zoos.
Only two zoos in Europe – one in Holland and another in Germany – are thought to have Angolan Giraffes, apart from the one in Lisbon.
Although the baby giraffe was now feeding on its own, it was still dependant on its mother and will now need the support of the rest of its group to help it cope with the loss, according to local media.
The tragic incident comes on the back of a string of other zoo animal deaths that sparked outrage around the world in recent times.
Perhaps the most infamous happened in May 2016, when Harambe the gorilla was shot and killed by Cincinnati Zoo staff after a four-year-old boy fell into his enclosure.
Just six days earlier, a male and female lion were shot dead after they began mauling a suicidal man who jumped into their enclosure at a zoo in Chile.
And schoolboy received death threats after killing a pregnant meerkat that bit him at a zoo in Hungary when he ignored warnings not to touch it earlier this month.
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