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WASHINGTON – A poor prognosis for its 2-year-old giraffe forced the National Zoo (search) to euthanize the animal Sunday afternoon.
"Jafari" was being treated for complications from skin cancer (search), but Sunday morning his condition appeared to have worsened. Veterinarians and animal-care staff decided to put the animal down, the zoo said.
The giraffe, who came to the zoo in April of 2004, was operated on Oct. 5th because of a cancerous, grapefruit-sized tumor on the top of his head. However, not all of the tumor could be removed.
The National Zoo now has just one giraffe left, a 3-year-old male.
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