The Dallas Zoo announced the death of Ola, an African painted dog, on Thursday. Zoo officials say she was killed during the overnight hours by her packmates.
Video from the animal enclosure showed that two-year-old brothers Jata and Mzingo were being aggressive with Ola, but zoo officials said she quickly died from her injuries sustained during the short fight.
"The hardest part of zoo life and caring for animals is having to share the difficult news of a death," Dallas zoo officials said in a Facebook post.
The Dallas Zoo said the introductions between the two brothers and Ola happened three weeks ago and had gone very smooth, with no signs of aggression being shown between the dogs.
Officials with the zoo said African painted dogs live in packs with highly complex social dynamics that can shift at any moment, which is what they said happened early Thursday morning. They say it is natural for younger males to test the dominant dog in the pack and to try to establish their own dominance. The zoo reassures that the boys did nothing wrong here, and were only exhibiting natural behavior.
The two brothers did not sustain injuries and will continue to be in the habitat regularly. The zoo's plan to continue adding to the pack will continue as scheduled.
