Giraffe ‘kisses’ dying caretaker to say final goodbye

Posted 6:41 pm, March 21, 2014, by , Updated at 06:49PM, March 21, 2014
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A giraffe says a final goodbye to his dying caretaker by giving him a “kiss.”

Dutch News reported that the charity Ambulance Wish Foundation recently wheeled 54-year-old Mario around the Blijdorp zoo in Rotterdam in his hospital bed.

Mario is suffering from terminal cancer and has reportedly worked most his life taking care of animals at the zoo.

While visiting the giraffes, one approached Mario and appeared to kiss him.

“It was a very special moment,” said Kees Veldboer, the foundation’s director. “You saw him smile. It was special that the animals knew him and could sense all was not well with him.”

Source: Dutch News

13 comments

  • Stephanie

    I think this would have been more touching if there hadn’t been a guy feeding the girraffes. I think the girraffe was just looking for food. Not that animals can’t feel compassion, but I don’t think that’s the case here.

    • Michelle Renee

      He was obviously feeding them so they would come closer so the man could enjoy looking at them one more time closely….I believe the compassionate animal knew he was ill and was giving him comfort. why did u have to ruin the moment?

  • dobydog1

    animals are so much smarter then people which is proven by some of the posters here. our dog knew somehting was wrong with my mom’s foot months before the doctors found anything. the doctors finally found the problem when her toe turned black and she lost part of her leg. and yes the doctors were told that our dog kept checking that toe.

  • Stephanie

    I work with animals daily and know that they are very smart and can sense things that humans can’t. It’s possible the animal was showing compassion but from what I saw that wasn’t the case here.

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