When her 24-hour care team noticed behavioral changes, veterinarians immediately started treatment and confirmed with a CT scan that surgery wasn't necessary.
In the case of Ubumwe, born to 8-year-old giraffe Zuri, a viral infection inflamed her intestines. "It's like if you imagine a big game of Twister, with two back legs and one front leg and a head all on one dot," he said. Managing their pain throughout recovery is difficult because they're flighty wild animals that naturally conceal symptoms of health issues as a defense.Īfter trying to use his hands to move the stillborn calf into a position to be delivered naturally, Neihaus realized the risky procedure was his only option. Their unusual anatomy and size (Cami was 1,850 pounds) makes them prone to injuries when anesthesia takes effect or leaves their system. 4, a 2 hour, 30-minute process.Īny surgery is risky for giraffes, Bapodra-Villaverde said. Andy Niehaus, a large animal surgeon and longtime zoo partner with Ohio State University's Veterinary Medical Center, to perform the C-section Dec.
They've replayed the scenarios in their heads countless times.īut when they talked with the Dispatch earlier this month about the giraffes who died, Junge and veterinarian Priya Bapodra-Villaverde said, if given the chance, they wouldn't do anything differently to try to save the animals.Ĭami's case in particular was a tough, lose-lose situation, they said. "I think people embrace that, and they appreciate it, because they feel like we're being honest with them." "You want to get the right information out there as quickly as you can," Junge continued. Randy Junge, the Columbus Zoo's vice president of animal health and a veterinarian of 33 years who recently answered the public's questions on a Facebook Live video. "We used to never announce babies until they were 30 days old and now they're announced the same day," said Dr. Zoo officials say they did all they could to prevent the unrelated deaths and will keep fielding questions to keep people informed.
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