Here’s a tall tale that has proved to be an impressive stand-up job
A baby giraffe named Msituni born in a U.S. zoo with leg-related abnormalities is thriving after bring fitted with custom leg braces.
The unusual disorder made her front legs bend the wrong way – making it difficult for her to walk or stand on her own, posing a threat to her survival.
Safari park staff feared she could die if they did not take immediate action to correct her condition.
This proved especially challenging given that she was a 178-centimetre newborn weighing 55-kilograms and they had no experience at fitting a brace onto a baby giraffe before.
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance partnered up with orthotists from Hanger Clinic to create moldings of the calf’s legs and then eventually the orthotic braces to help the baby giraffe.
“We are so glad to have the resources and expertise to step in and provide this young calf the opportunity for a full life,” said Matt Kinney, DVM, senior veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
“Without these lifesaving braces to provide support, the position of her legs would have become increasingly more painful and progressed to a point she would not have been able to overcome.”
Hanger Clinic worked with a company that makes horse braces to make the custom braces that work, as they would need to have a range of motion but be durable as well.
It took eight days to make the carbon graphite braces that featured the animal’s distinct pattern of crooked spots to match her fur using the cast mouldings of the giraffe’s legs.
In the end, Msituni only needed one brace as the other leg corrected itself with the medical-grade brace.
After ten days in the custom brace, the problem was corrected.
Msituni was in braces for 39 days from the day she was born and stayed in the animal hospital for the duration of this time.
Following this, she was slowly introduced to her mum and others in the herd.
Unfortunately, her mum rejected her but then different female giraffe has adopted her, so to speak, and now she runs around with other giraffes in the 60-acre habitat at Safari Park.
Danaya Malenda contributed to this report.
