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Giraffe Accidentally Kills Itself While Trying to Scratch An Itch [Photos]

A 10-year-old giraffe has tragically died after it accidentally got its head stuck in a tree while trying to scratch an itch.

10 year old male giraffe Hairong died after it trapped its neck between two branches on a tree. Desperate zoo keepers tried to save the animal by chopping down the branch, sadly they were too late.

Mirror UK reports:

The male giraffe called Hairong had been living at the Kunming
Zoo in China for five years.

But as he got into difficulty, zoo visitors watched on in horror with some even recording the attempted rescue.

Zoo staff used a ladder to reach Hairong’s head but turned to sawing one of the branches off when they could not push the animal’s neck out of the gap.

Video provided by a bystander showed the magnificent animal collapsing to the ground in its enclosure after one of the branches was removed and its neck was finally freed.The animal also accidentally hit a zoo employee on the head while on the way down.

Employees at the Kunming Zoo performed chest compressions on Hairong and said the animal tried several times to stand up.

But tragically it was later pronounced dead by vets after having suffered a severe neck injury.The zoo said Hairong often used the tree to scratch itches it could not reach. They believe he was attempting to do the same when he snagged his neck between the branches.

The incident is still being investigated.