Gal, a giraffe bull, died of old age and poor health. He was brought to the Ljubljana Zoo in 2005 at the age of 2. He would have been 13 years old this year, which is a great age for a giraffe bull, given that 25 percent of giraffe bulls in the wild die before they reach 3 years of age, 50 percent die before the age of 10, and the rest usually die before the age of 16.

Plagued by digestive problems
For the past five years, Gal has been battling digestive problems. He couldn't eat enough and became weak. However, his vets were able to help him – until now. The Ljubljana Zoo has said that his vets had consulted foreign specialists who helped them put together a custom nutrition plan for Gal.

Gal survived by Cvetko and Rastko
Gal, a male reticulated giraffe, lived together with two giraffe bulls: Cvetko, aged 8, and Rastko, aged 9. Giraffes never stop growing, so the tallest giraffes are also the oldest. However, the reticulated giraffe is the shortest subspecies of giraffe, so Gal was the shortest giraffe in in his group. Rastko and Cvetko are Rothschild's giraffes, the tallest subspecies of giraffe.

D. S.; translated by D.V.