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The statement released by Long Island Game Farm, located at 489 Chapman Boulevard in Manorville, comes shortly after a USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) report came out indicating that Bobo may have been improperly cared for.
“We are saddened by the misinterpretations of the report and the extent [to] which it has been used,” the farm said in a Facebook post.
“However, we can only speak to our own actions and motivations – animal care is now and has always been our top priority.”
The USDA report, which indicated that malnutrition and cold temperatures were tied to the Bobo’s untimely death, led to outrage among animal advocates and lovers.
"In the wild, Bobo the giraffe would have roamed up to 100 square miles of African grasslands and open woodlands, shared a complex social life with a herd of his own species for as long as 25 years, and spent many hours of the day and night browsing for leaves, shoots, and fruits from tall trees,” said John Di Leonardo, anthrozoologist and executive director of nonprofit group Humane Long Island.
“But at the Long Island Game Farm, Bobo essentially starved and froze until his premature death at only 3 years old.”
Long Island Game Farm defended the criticism it has received in the wake of the report.
It claimed that Bobo suffered from malnutrition as a result of heavy parasitic load resistant to medication and not due to starvation (the USDA had noted that the giraffe had been in treatment for parasitic load, but also pointed to a lack of high-energy browse as a cause of malnutrition).
“While the outside temperatures in early October were around 58 degrees, the barn was warmer to ensure Bobo’s comfort and safety. Bobo did not freeze, nor does the USDA report indicate that he did,” the zoo continued.
Bobo in October 2023 at the age of 3 “after a period of increased rain and decreased temperatures in the local area,” the USDA report reads. An autopsy revealed that the animal had suffered serious atrophy of fat in multiple areas of his body – something the organization said is “associated with death in giraffes due to energy-deficient diets and colder temperatures.”
Though the farm’s barn had a heater, officials said that the zoo did not provide surrounding insulation, a temperature gauge, or chest-level heating.
Additionally, it pointed to Bobo’s diet — which included lettuce, carrots, second-cut hay, and pellets — as insufficient and a cause of his poor body condition, claiming that the giraffe was not given “high-energy browse” and suffered from malnutrition.
Long Island Game Farm began a fundraiser shortly before Bobo’s death with the goal of adding another giraffe and building a year-round giraffe house.
According to the USDA inspection report, Long Island Game Farm must update the barn and adopt an appropriate feeding plan before obtaining another giraffe.
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