MOKOPANE, South Africa (WAND) – A giraffe who was abandoned at birth and befriended by a dog has died at an African orphanage.
Jazz the giraffe arrived at The Rhino Orphanage just days after birth. A farmer found him in the wild, weak and dehydrated, and called the center for help. Hunter the resident watchdog quickly took the giraffe under his care.
Jazz died on Thursday. The team taking care of him said the last two days he was looking unstable on his legs and seemed like he wasn’t registering things. He suddenly collapsed and blood could be seen pooling into his eyes.
Hunter, Jazz’s watch dog knew something was wrong and stayed with Jazz as he took his last breath.
According to the vet, Jazz had hyphema (blood pooling in the eyes) coupled with brain hemorrhaging.
The rescue said they finally knew Jazz didn’t have a bad giraffe mom that left him, she just knew.
“#RIP Jazz the Giraffe. You have taught us so much in the last 3 weeks and we will remember you fondly,” the rescue said on Facebook.
Hunter is doing well, according to the rescue. He stayed till the end and said his goodbyes. He sat in front of Jazz’s empty room for a while and then went to caretakers for comfort.
