CHACHOENGSAO – A three-year-old giraffe was found dead in a roadside ditch on Thursday, more than 40 hours after it escaped from a truck while being transported on Tuesday in Chachoengsao province.
Two giraffes which were imported by Safari World Plc, which operates a number of zoos in Thailand, fled the truck, a part of the convoy of 24 lorries, while on the way to a facility of the company in Prachin Buri Tuesday evening.
Safari World staffers and rescue workers were able to capture one of them shortly after the escape, but the other roamed free and disappeared. Wildlife officials had joined the effort to track down the giraffe, using drones and paramotors.
The ill-fated giraffe was then found dead Thursday afternoon in the ditch with traces of its struggles.
The company said it had retrieved the carcass from the ditch and it would investigate the cause of the animal’s death.
Duang Kiewkacha, a manager of Safari World’s bleeding center, said a forklift might accidently damage the lock of the giraffe containers.
It was one of 68 giraffes the company imported from Africa; all others were safely transferred, he said.
