#giraffe

#giraffe

A Baby Boom at the Louisville ZooBabies are spring up all over at the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky! On May 19, the zoo welcomed the birth of three Canada lynx kittens to mother Matilda and father Sitka. The kittens are doing well and will be in seclusion until late June. Also in May, a Bennett’s wallaby named Alexa gave birth to four joeys. She's carrying three of them in her pouch, where they normally stay for nine months or so. One male joey left the pouch early (too crowded?) and is being cared for by zoo staff.But there's more! In April, a harbor seal named Tonie gave birth to her first seal pup at the Louisville Zoo. Azizi, a Hartman's mountain zebra, delivered a female foal on May 13. The foal is already on display to the public.

Leg Braces for a Newborn GiraffeA new giraffe was born February first at the San Diego zoo safari park. But Msituni came into the world with a few problems. Her front legs bent the wrong way. A giraffe that has trouble walking is doomed. The veterinary staff at the park knew Msituni needed leg braces, but since the newborn was almost six feet tall already, they turned to experts for help. Experts in human braces. They turned to the Hanger Clinic, renowned for fitting orthotics to people who went on the achieve athletic success. Hanger had never made a leg brace for an animal, but Ara Mirzaian studied giraffes intently as soon as he got the request.Msituni suffered from hyperextended carpi, wrist joint bones in giraffes’ front limbs, which are more like arms. As she overcompensated, the second front limb started to hyperextend as well. Her back leg joints also were weak but were able to be corrected with specialized hoof extenders. And given that she weighed more than 100lb (55kg) at birth, the abnormality was already taking its toll on her joints and bones.Mirzaian cut and modified existing human braces for the giraffe while they waited for custom orthotics to be built for her. When Msituni finally got her custom-made braces, she only needed to wear them ten days before her front legs were corrected. Meanwhile, her rear legs had strengthened during her therapy. After 39 days of treatment, Msituni was able to rejoin the other giraffes at the park. read the entire story at the Guardian. -via Fark#giraffe #legbraces #orthotics

The Giraffes that Rode Out a HurricaneIn 1938, the San Diego Zoo acquired two giraffes from east Africa. Getting the giraffes from Kenya to California was a monumental task, especially once the ship they were on encountered the Great Hurricane of 1938. They survived, although the female was injured. But that was only the beginning of their long journey, as they had to undergo quarantine and then ride across the US by truck. The giraffes weren't all that keen on the trip, but Lofty and Patches became superstars along the way. The History Guy tells the story of the giraffes that made their mark on American history. -via Fark#giraffe #hurricane #SanDiegoZoo

Baby Giraffes Zahara and Akiki Meet the PublicPerth Zoo welcomed two new giraffes into their fold this fall! Zahara was born in September, and her half-brother Akiki was born in October. This is the first time the zoo has had two giraffe calves at the same time. Akiki was fed by hand after his first-time mother couldn't produce enough milk. A few weeks later, the two were deemed old enough and healthy enough to make their grand public debut.

The Funniest Animals From the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Photography AwardsThe Comedy Wildlife Photography Awardscompetition has just released their 2021 finalists for the world's funniest animals, so how could we not post it on Supa Fluffy?The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards competition was started 7 years ago back in 2015 by wildlife photographer Paul Joynson-Hicks MBE. Tom Sullam and Michelle Wood joined in afterwards and the founders grew the online award to a tradition that people all over the world look forward to every year.In addition to photographs, this year's competition also has funny animals caught on video. This one above is from "Hugging best friend after lockdown" by Rahul Lakhmani.More than 7,000 photographs were submitted to the competition and a total of 42 photographs were selected as finalists. The category and overall winners will be announced on October 22, 2021.#FunnyAnimals #ComedyWildlifePhotographyAwardTake a look at our favorite funny animals and finalists 2021 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards below: