ABU DHABI // Al Ain Zoo’s veterinary team recently came to the rescue of a distraught giraffe suffering labour complications at Emirates Park Zoo in Shahama.
The team of specialists were called out when Pimple, a 5 to 6-year-old giraffe, began showing signs of a complicated labour at the zoo, located on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi city.
Once it became clear the mother was having difficulties delivering her calf naturally, the team decided to immobilise her and use an extraction method to help with the birth - not an easy task, one vet said.
“Giraffes are one of the most difficult species to immobilise due to their unique anatomy and physiology,” said Dr Arshad Toosy, manager of veterinary services at Al Ain Zoo.
Despite the development of newer and safer drugs, as well as improved monitoring equipment, risk of morbidity is high when anaesthetising a giraffe.
“Due to our experienced team who carefully pre-planned, immobilised and monitored the giraffe during the entire procedure, we managed to successfully save the giraffe from a potentially life-threatening situation,” Dr Toosy said.
The team were then able to extract the trapped stillborn calf from the mother’s birth canal.
Although the procedure, which took place in December last year, initially saved Pimple, the animal died 20 days later due to complications.
“We gave her the best care and antibiotics but there was nothing we could do,” said Walter Tavares, manager of Emirates Park Zoo.
While meat from dead zoo animals is usually fed to the zoo’s predatory animals, fear of spreading any possible diseases meant Pimple was cremated.
tsubaihi@thenational.ae