Bhubaneswar, Feb. 29: Joy, the six-year-old male giraffe brought to Nandankanan from the Alipore zoo in Calcutta, died today.

The state government has ordered an inquiry into the death of the animal that had reached the zoo on February 24. Nandankanan had got the giraffe in exchange for four tigers, including a white one.

Sources in the zoo said Joy collapsed in his enclosure around 8.30am. "Our vets rushed to the spot and administered saline and other medicines. The treatment went on for about two hours but the giraffe died around 10.40am," said deputy director of the zoo Jayant Dash.

However, zoo authorities are yet to ascertain the reason behind Joy's death. "He was taking food as usual and did not show any signs of sickness. The post-mortem will reveal the exact cause of the death," said a zoo official.

Nandankanan authorities also contacted their counterparts in Calcutta to find out whether the animal had any diseases, but were informed that it did not have any.

Forest and environment minister Bikram Keshari Arukh said he had directed the principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) to conduct a probe into the death. "We will take action after the inquiry report is submitted," said Arukh.

Later, a team of doctors from the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology conducted an autopsy on the animal. The post-mortem report is likely to be given to the zoo authorities tomorrow.

The zoo authorities were happy after Joy reached here because they hoped to start breeding of the species in Nandankanan. The male giraffe was kept in the enclosure of the lone five-year-old female giraffe - Khushi, which was brought from Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna in 2012.

However, both were separated by a barrier since Joy was a new arrival and it had to spend some time in quarantine.

The death of the animal has come as a major jolt to the zoo. "This is a huge loss for the zoo. Successful breeding would have been a great achievement for us," said a Nandankanan official.

The zoo authorities had taken special care this time as their first attempt to bring a giraffe to the zoo in 2008 had resulted in the death of the animal. It had got electrocuted shortly after leaving Alipore zoo. Consequently, for transporting Joy, Nandankanan authorities had made elaborate arrangements and sent an eight-member team, including a vet, to accompany the animal during the journey to Bhubaneswar.