A baby giraffe

Not too much to report--I'm still enjoying my last days as a tour bus driver! Things are wrapping up on a positive note, as I've gotten more good feedback from visitors in the past few days than the entire rest of the summer!

I went to work early today to take some photos before my shift. We had a new giraffe calf born on the morning of August 30, so this morning he was less than 36 hours old for the photos. The poor little guy had one of his front hooves tucked under in the womb, so the tendons are hyper extended and his leg bent in a very disturbing way yesterday. Luckily our vet staff wrapped the leg, including a splint (I think), so now he it stays straight when he walks on it instead of bending at terrible angles. They expect the tendons to shrink back to a normal range soon, and he'll be walking like a normal little calf.

The keepers moved the mother giraffe (Nicky) into the barn before the arrival of the vet this morning, leaving the calf outside by himself. The rest of the herd was very quick to check and make sure the calf was ok. Imara, the giraffe to the left in the photo above, is 5 months old. She and the new calf share a father, and she is very interested in this baby! Yesterday morning when I took a tour by Imara was leaning as far over the fence as she could, sticking out her tongue to try to lick the new arrival.

Above: Suricata suricatta, meerkat! They're cute, that's all.

And a Siberian lynx!