Images released by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows Msituni, a giraffe calf born with an unusual disorder that caused her legs to bend the wrong way, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, north of San Diego. (Credit: San Diego Zoo W ESCONDIDO, Calif. - Over the past three decades, Ara Mirzaian has fitted braces for everyone from Paralympians to children with scoliosis.
But Msituni was a patient like none other — a newborn giraffe.The calf was born Feb. 1 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, north of San Diego, with her front limb bending the wrong way.
Safari park staff feared she could die if they didn’t immediately correct the condition, which could prevent her from nursing and walking around the habitat.But they had no experience with fitting a baby giraffe in a brace.
That proved especially challenging given she was a 5-foot-10-inch-tall (178-centimeter) newborn and growing taller every day.