An endangered giraffe at Wellington Zoo has died after having an infected toe amputated.
The six-year-old male Rothschild's giraffe, known as Seun, died on Thursday after failing to recover from being anaesthetised for the procedure which last five hours.
The zoo said its veterinary staff and experts from Massey University had decided to amputate after an x-ray revealed the giraffe had a badly infected toe on his right hoof.
"Giraffes are notoriously difficult to anaesthetise and although we gave him the best chance we could, Seun did not survive the procedure," zoo chief executive Karen Fifield said.
There are only about 650 of the species left in the wild, but about the same number are housed at zoos around the world.
NZN