Some of Michael Jackson’s zoo animals suffered horrific fates, documentary finds

'The doors that came into the giraffe barn came loose and the door came round and broke his neck'

Some of Michael Jackson's zoo animals suffered horrific fates, with his giraffe Jabbar snapping his neck, a documentary has found. ITV's Searching for Michael Jackson's Zoo, hosted by noneother than Ross Kemp, has been trending since it aired in April. Kemp swapped war-torn areas for a trip around America to find the last remnants of Michael Jackson's infamous zoo. The King of Pop is said to have owned over 130 wild animals, including giraffes, elephants, snakes and tigers. He housed the exotic creatures on his Neverland Ranch in California before leaving for the Middle East following his child molestation acquittal in 2005. [caption id="attachment_338036" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Via Getty[/caption] Jabbar, the giraffe, is said to have broken his neck after moving to a larger enclosure, but a friend maintains that it was an accident. "Jabbar was killed in an accident. That was really, really, really sad," Jackson's friend and personal portrait artist David Nordahl told Kemp. "The doors that came into the giraffe barn came loose and the door came round and broke his neck." Jabbar was first bought to the zoo in the '80s when he was around eight feet tall. However, California Fish and Game Commission officials confiscated the animal after a routine visit, citing the size of the enclosure as reasoning. Despite being taken to the ranch illegally, Jabbar was given back to Jackson, providing he was given a bigger enclosure. Other incidents involved a parrot being eaten by a boa constrictor and a llama being devoured by a dog. Kemp also spoke to renowned primatologist and campaigner Jane Goodall, who said the living conditions were "terrible." "The conditions were terrible," she said. "There were two dressed-up chimps kept separately who came out to be ­photographed. There was a poor little bear in a circular cage crying – it shouldn't have left its mother." "The whole situation was horrendous," she added.

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