The zoo says this past fall, Jabari helped welcome Shaq the giraffe to the zoo, and they became fast friends in their winter holding area. Racine Zoo will be closed to the public on Friday, Jan. 17.

RACINE, Wis. (CNN/CNN Newsource/WKRC) - A zoo's beloved giraffe named "Jabari" tragically died after falling in his holding area. A beloved giraffe at the Racine Zoo has died, officials announced.

"Bub drops to the ground with quite a thud." The new giraffe calves fall 2.5 metres to the ground, where their mothers lick their babies clean and nudge them towards walking. Within an hour ...

Giraffe numbers have been decimated by the expansion of human populations, illegal hunting and wars. 'Latest field data suggests that overall numbers across their range are falling. Careful management ...

But these tallest of all land mammals are in the midst of a silent extinction. Africa's giraffe population has dropped by almost 40 percent in the past 30 years, dwindling to just more than 97,000 ...

RIGHT NOW AT FIVE, THE RACINE ZOO, MOURNING THE DEATH OF ITS BELOVED GIRAFFE, JABARI. 12 NEWS KENDALL KEYS REPORTS FROM RACINE. WITH THE MASSIVE RESPONSE AND EFFORT TO RESCUE JABARI AFTER A FALL.