One of the runaway giraffes was spotted crossing the road in Bang Khla, Thailand (AFP Photo/Jongput JIRA-APAKUL) |
Bangkok (AFP) - A giraffe whose daring escape from convoy en route to a Thai breeding station won hearts online was found dead in a lotus-clogged canal on Thursday after a two-day search using drones and hang gliders.
Two
giraffes made a bid for freedom from the back of a poorly secured truck as it
slowed in highway traffic after leaving Bangkok's main airport on Tuesday.
The animals
had been imported from an unnamed African country and destined for Safari
World, a popular attraction outside Bangkok which describes itself as "an
open zoo".
Rescuers
caught one of the creatures after stunning it with a tranquiliser gun, but the
other escaped into scrubland -- cheered on by hundreds of thousands of people
on social media.
The story
took a tragic turn, however, after it was found dead in a lotus swamp near a
main road, according to Safari World.
Vets will
determine the cause of death.
Hundreds of
thousands of Thais followed Facebook live videos of journalists trailing the
hunt for the runaway ungulate.
Comments
lamenting its fate poured onto social media.
"Hope
you reincarnate in a better world lil giraffe," said one.
Safari
World is Thailand's biggest animal park, but the multi-million dollar company
has in the past been criticised for training its creatures to perform for
entertainment -- including staging boxing matches with orangutans.
Zoos and
animal shows are common in Thailand, where tourists pay to have their pictures
taken with tigers or watch elephants play football and perform tricks.
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