live animals (giraffe) in transit - young one sticks neck out ... dies

Today’s TOI has an article on how young Bheem left home. He trundled along in a cage for nine days, covering 2,200km from Mysore Zoo to Patna Zoo uncomplainingly taking in the sights and sounds along his “incredible India“ journey.  Bheem incidentally is a 2 ½ year old giraffe.   It is reported that Bheem remained calm throughout the journey in a specially-designed cage transported on a 16wheel trailer truck – the animal  adapted to the transit admiringly well and was pampered with choice foods packed with love by the zoo staff. There were banyan, neem leaves, carrots, cucumbers and apples to chew on.

The 13.5-ft tall giraffe, travelling in a specially designed cage - reached Patna via Bangalore, through Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It was a smooth ride for the young giraffe, except for some bump-and-grind on the bad roads of Maharashtra. In Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, he was made to wait for hours together as transport authorities stopped the vehicle for verification.  Vet Suresh Kumar, accompanied Bheem is quoted as telling  TOI that the giraffe was healthy and eating well even after the tiring journey.  It is further stated that throughout the journey the speed was around 20 kmph in urban areas and not exceeding 40 kmph on highways. 

Transporting animals is always a challenging task – reportedly the plan was well conceived, route surveyed and a container designed to carry the animal.  It was transported in a   special low-bed trailer  brought down from Bihar, and a crane was used to lift the container from its enclosure on to the truck. The trailer was designed keeping in mind the height of the giraffe, as normal trailers with high ground clearance are not suited for longnecked animals, the official said.

They are found in Chad and Savannah and Africans know it better – yet a young one over there was not so fortunate.  Sadly, it is reported that in Aug 14 that a young giraffe died from head injuries sustained while being transported, blindfolded, in an open truck along a South African highway, an animal welfare agency said.  The giraffe and another were being transported near Pretoria, reportedly to Limpopo, when it “reared-up” after its head struck against the Garsfontein Road bridge on the N1 North. While it was unclear whether the vehicle’s driver had immediately noticed the incident, the giraffe was taken to a veterinary clinic where it died.

Reports quoting witnesses, stated that the giraffe had reared up when the truck drove underneath the bridge and hit its head. The animal’s head had protruded above the vehicle, it is stated which  meant the animal had not been transported correctly. The incident occurring between the capital Pretoria and the commercial hub of Johannesburg had many people voicing their concern. 

In Dec 2013, visitors thronging  Indira Gandhi Zoological Park at Vizag were thrilled to see the new arrivals — a pair of giraffe from Malaysia and a rhino from Kanpur.  After releasing the new arrivals for public-viewing, Minister for Environment and Forests Satrucharla Vijaya Rama Raju named the male giraffe ‘Samaikya’ and the female partner ‘Andhra’.   In that too - one of the three giraffes shipped from the Negara Malaysian Zoological Society in Malaysia died en route its journey to India.  It was stated that the young female giraffe suffered fracture on its neck during the course of the journey and though the veterinarians on-board tried to treat it, the giraffe was unable to complete its journey and succumbed to injuries.

The giraffes were shipped via the sea route as they had grown to a height of more than 10 feet, due to which they could not be accommodated on flight. The remnant two were quarantined at Hyderabad zoo and then shifted to IGZP at Vizag. The travel from Malaysia to Chennai took five days, it took another one-and-half-day via road to Hyderabad

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

18^th Sept. 2014.