April 18: The baby giraffe whose mother had spurned him since birth at Alipore zoo died of cardiac failure on Friday night.

The male calf was born to Bithi, 4, last Wednesday. This was Bithi's first baby, Susanta Bhattacharya, assistant director of the zoo, said.

In the absence of mother's milk, the calf had been extremely weak. After the first few hours, it couldn't find the strength to stand on its feet.

In its final hours, it could barely remain seated and kept lying down, a keeper said.

A team of vets and keepers tried hard to save the calf by giving ORS and baby food fortified with essential minerals apart from antibiotics. "But none of these was a substitute for mother's milk," V.K. Yadav, member-secretary, Bengal zoo authority, said.

Assistant director Bhattacharya said the focus was now on the mother's health.

The mother has been kept in a separate enclosure and her movements are being monitored, he said. Bithi hadn't shown any signs of restlessness or anxiety after her calf's death, though. "Animals like chimpanzees with higher cognitive levels can feel dejected after a baby's death."

When Metro visited the zoo today, Bithi was lazing around in her enclosure, separated from the rest of the herd.

She didn't appear bothered about not being able to roam around freely.

A keeper said she had her regular twice-a-day meal of leaves, carrots, bananas, apples, beans, onions, and pulses.

Bengal zoo authority's Yadav had said on Friday that a combination of factors could have led to Bithi spurning her baby.

Inadequate lactation, infection in the breasts or over-excitement could have been responsible, he had said.

A zoo official said today Bithi's medicines were unlikely to have side effects. "But we aren't taking any chances... we have conducted a few tests on her."

A vet, who isn't associated with the zoo, said there were instances of animals spurning sick babies. "They have a hunch that the baby won't survive."

But Bithi's calf hadn't shown any signs of abnormality. The baby had weighed more than 55kg and was over 5ft tall, a zoo official said.

The calf's death brings down the giraffe count at Alipore to 10.