We do want to share that we received the preliminary pathology report this afternoon following the necropsy that was performed on Matu this morning. Your Toronto Zoo thanks the Pathobiology Department at the Ontario Veterinary College for their invaluable assistance in this case. The most significant preliminary finding was that of stomach content in Matu’s lungs – a finding that explains the respiratory, then cardiac arrest that occurred.
The regurgitation of material from the rumen (part of the stomach) is a well-recognized risk when animals that regurgitate their food (such as cows, sheep, deer, and giraffes – all referred to as ruminants) are anesthetized. This is why we took detailed precautions to minimize this risk by modifying Matu’s diet in the lead-up to this procedure. Fasting in the days leading up to being under anesthetic is a widely recognized and adopted practice for virtually all species. This is done to reduce the overall amount of stomach (ruminal) content and the fluid-nature of that content.
Despite these precautions and many others, and although we saw no evidence of ruminal content in his nose or mouth when he was routinely intubated (had a tube put into his lungs so we could ventilate him), we believe Matu regurgitated and inhaled ruminal content, which led to his death. Once he had this foreign material in his lungs, our efforts to revive Matu were never going to be successful.
We are grateful to the professional colleagues from whom we received advice in the preparation for this procedure, and the deep sympathy expressed by so many people since. Our first priorities are the well-being of the amazing animals in our care and ensuring the team completing the procedures is always safe, these are significant challenges particularly with a 480 kilogram animal. Any procedure with general anesthesia has risk, and this risk is even more significant in large species such as giraffes.
We want to express our deep gratitude to our community for sending so many supportive, compassionate and thoughtful messages. Our grieving team finds comfort in the love and support we have received and we also know the impact Matu had on our broader community as well as our Zoo family.
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