At a book signing for RHINO the other day, I met a young woman who works as a giraffe keeper in Florida.  Long before we started talking, I watched her flip purposefully through the book's pages.  Near the end, she stopped and started reading.  She'd found the giraffe story--it's the last chapter in the book--Amali's Lesson, by Dr. Lauren Howard.

Then we talked about giraffes.  She loves them because they do what they're asked to do most of the time; they have gentle personalities; and, they're beautiful.  She pointed out that many people are surprised to learn that giraffes can be taught to allow minor medical treatments.  She added that you have to be patient, of course, because when an animal doesn't want to do something, that's just the way it is.

The giraffe in our book, Amali, is a young female with an angular limb deformity.  It's also about a little girl with an arm problem who develops a bond with Amali.  Both have to wear a brace to straighten out an abnormal joint. 

Here's another photo of Amali with her brace, taken by Houston Zoo photographer Stephanie Adams.

Amali was injured as a newborn when her mother accidentally stepped on her rear leg and hip.  This injury affected how she bore weight on her three good legs.   As she grew, one of her front legs started to bend inward at the knee.  Similar problems occur in young growing horses, small ruminants, and, even llamas.   Surgery may be necessary to straighten the leg, but splinted bandages can work too. 

Getting the bandage on and off can be the tricky part, especially in a fiesty animal with four sharp hooves.  A giraffe calf will kick and buck just like a foal, with even more powerl.  For Amali, the solution was a specially designed giraffe knee brace that could be left on for days at a time.  Even so, it had to be changed and adjusted regularly.  I won't spoil the story any more except to say that none of this would have happened without the giraffe's keepers. 

Amali with her keeper Kelly, and prosthetic expert John.

Vets rarely work by themselves.  More often than not, our success depends on the expertise of the keeper, aquarist, scientist, or park ranger--the person who looks after the animal on a daily basis. 

There have been a number of stories in the news recently about animals wearing braces or prosthetic devices.  I wrote about one of them, Molly the Pony.  See here for the latest update: http://www.mollythepony.com/

Here's an article about prosthetic devices in wild animals: 

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1655711,00.html  

There's also a story from last year about a dolphin with a prosthetic tail.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-08-25-tailless-dolphin_N.htm

In each of these articles, it's pretty amazing--and inspiring--how  far humans will go to help wild animals.