Community Corner

Colt Dies at National Zoo Site

The death—the fourth in the past year—came one day after the zoo reported that its resources and staff are stretched too thinly.

A day after the director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo said that the death of three zoo animals during the past year indicated strained resources and staffing, a fourth animal died.

A Przewalski's colt died Wednesday at the zoo's Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, VA.

In a Wednesday evening Facebook status update, the zoo reported that:

"The colt was found in the 2,500 square-foot barn where he lived with his mother and another mare and her filly. The group also has access to a large outdoor yard. The barn houses other Przewalski’s horses as well, but they are separated by a fence in the barn. The colt was last seen during routine rounds [Tuesday] at 2:30 p.m. in fine health."

"[Wednesday] morning, keepers found the colt alongside the fence, which was bowed outward. The preliminary necropsy revealed a traumatic fracture of his neck," the zoo added.

The colt was born on Aug. 15, 2013.

>>>Read more about the year's previous three animal deaths—and about a zebra's attack on a zookeeper—on The Washington Post's website.


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