'Some goodbyes leave a 17 1/2 ft hole in your heart.' Fresno's Gali the giraffe dies

A 23-year-old giraffe named Gali died at Fresno Chaffee Zoo earlier this month.

"Some goodbyes leave a 17 1/2 ft hole in your heart," wrote zookeeper Alex Alamar in a memorial Instagram post Thursday about Gali's passing.

Gali was among five giraffes visitors could feed by purchasing leaves from zoo staff.

Gali was euthanized March 10 due to old age, said zoo marketing manager Ciara Castellanoz.

"It came to the point where we said, 'His quality of life isn't where it should be anymore,' " she said.

Gali was receiving pain medication for severe arthritis. He was among the oldest quarter of all giraffes in zoos. The oldest giraffe in a zoo is 29 years old, Castellanoz said.

Gali came to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo in 1995 from the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City, Kansas.

He was the father of the first animal born in Fresno Chaffee Zoo's African Adventure exhibit, in September of 2015. The calf died soon after it was born.

Gali was a reticulated giraffe, a species from Africa, as are the remaining four.

Castellanoz said the zoo has enough space for eight giraffes and will likely soon increase its giraffe population.

This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 1:54 PM with the headline "'Some goodbyes leave a 17 1/2 ft hole in your heart.' Fresno's Gali the giraffe dies."