6 Animal Film Stars With Tragic Histories

It's not good to be a Toys R' Us kid when the giraffe playing the mascot succumbs in a puzzling death. The giraffe star of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and several of the toy chain's commercials collapsed in his pen during the filming of Zookeeper. Tweet's death launched a federal probe focused on abuse allegations and the giraffe's exposure to toxins.

Tweet was not a resident of the Franklin Zoo where he perished. He was on loan from Animals in Motion, a Florida-based supplier of exotic animals for Hollywood movies. A whistleblower contacted PETA and divulged that he was worried that Tweet's diet was the culprit. He alleged that a formerly healthy Tweet ate pieces of the plastic tarp around his enclosure and "that his caretakers did nothing to stop him." Additionally, the whistleblower spilled that Tweet's stall was too small for an average giraffe.

PETA issued a letter to Zookeeper producer Adam Sandler but he never replied. The outcry led protesters to attend the film's premiere in 2009 while the American Humane Association discredited the claims. Tweet lived a grand total of eighteen years though his fatality prompted PETA to promote a long-range plan to movie studios. Rather than employ exotic animals, PETA stated that directors should create CGI copies of the creatures.

While the industry considers the merits of PETA's idea, the unresolved circumstances circling Tweet's expiration persist. The cause of death for the beloved giraffe in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective remains a sad mystery.