The calf’s mother was recovering Wednesday.
A giraffe at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio was recovering Wednesday after an incredibly stressful birthing experience. The six-year-old giraffe, Cami, started showing symptoms of labor at 3 p.m. EST Tuesday.
By 4:50 p.m. the animal care team at the zoo determined that it was best to go into the giraffe’s stall and end the live stream of the birth. The team also decided to intervene with the goal of keeping Cami and the baby giraffe healthy through the birthing process.
The care team was able to determine that the baby was presenting back hooves first, which is highly unusual for giraffes, according to the zoo. It’s very unlikely for giraffes born that way to survive. The animal care team did their best to manually “extract the calf” from its mother but their attempts were unsuccessful, according to the zoo.
