Vets remove tumor from giraffe's head

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- National Zoo veterinarians in Washington have performed a tumor operation on the head of a giraffe, a difficult operation hailed as a first.

The diagnosis was skin cancer and the grapefruit-sized tumor on the back of Jafari's head had to go. The young giraffe had basal cell carcinoma, which is the most common skin cancer in humans but had never been reported in a giraffe.

The zoo assembled a crew of 28 for the surgery that took less than an hour. Jafari was up and about not long after that.

Unfortunately, the Washington Post said, only 90 percent of the tumor could be removed.

"Even though the prognosis is poor," chief veterinarian Suzan Murray said, "he's paving the way for management of giraffes in zoos."

Jafari, which stands about 13 feet tall, weighs more than 1,300 pounds and will be 3 years old in December, arrived at the zoo last year.