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<p>SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) &#8212; A young giraffe that died at a Pennsylvania zoo last month suffered a broken neck after it leaned into an adjoining stall and was injured by his father, authorities said.</p><p>The blow over Memorial Day weekend at the Lehigh Valley Zoo left Ernie with its neck between the bars of a human catwalk high on a wall separating the stalls, and the 6-year-old Masai giraffe was beyond saving, The (Allentown) Morning Call reported.</p><p>Zoo president and CEO Melissa Borland released a report Friday with the details of the death. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums is reviewing it.</p><p>Officials said Ernie had been removed from his father, 16-year-old Murphy, after displaying aggressive behavior on May 27, a day after arriving from the Kansas City Zoo.</p><p>Early morning May 28, Ernie apparently reached through the rails of the stall-spanning catwalk. Investigators believe the animal suffered a blow from Murphy in the adjoining stall, fracturing the vertebrae and preventing Ernie from pulling his head from the railing. Borland said there&#8217;s no way to tell whether the contact was aggressive or playful.</p><p>Staff members found Ernie bleeding and unable to get free from the railing shortly after. The animal was freed after a vet applied a sedative and the railing bars were removed. But Borland said Ernie died a few hours later.</p><p>Borland said she has been warning other facilities with similar catwalk setups.</p><p>&#8220;We want to make sure, across the board, that this never happens again,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Borland said it&#8217;s unclear how the accident could have been prevented.</p><p>She said she doesn&#8217;t know whether the 29-acre zoo inside the Trexler Nature Preserve will acquire another giraffe. Staff worried that word of Murphy&#8217;s suspected role in Ernie&#8217;s death would alarm the public, but since then, he has only demonstrated his fondness for people, she said.</p><p>&#8220;Wild animals react to one another in sometimes unpredictable ways,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But Murphy is loving. He gives kisses. He&#8217;s a spectacular animal and there&#8217;s no risk to the public whatsoever.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

Lehigh Valley Zoo: Giraffe died of broken neck after blow from father