Clinical Conditions Found Radiographically in the Front Feet of Reticulated Giraffe (Giraffa Camelopardalis Reticulata) in a Single Zoo

Foot shape and radiographs of free-ranging Nubian giraffe in Uganda

“…This same female was the only giraffe with distal sesamoid cysts in her front feet ( Fig 2B ) but otherwise had no observed body condition and morphological difference in this individual giraffe compared with the others. For all three giraffe, when osteitis was present, it was rated as mild (level 1) [ 21 ], was present in both digits of that foot, and anatomically was not near the site of the deep digital flexor tendon attachment to P3.…”

“…We observed that in young adult giraffe, 12.5% had pedal osteitis, 4% (1 animal) had sesamoid cysts, and none had DIP OA, P3 rotation, or P3 fractures. In comparison, in one study of zoo giraffe, 86% of giraffe had front foot pedal osteitis, 72% had osteoarthritis of the distal interphalangeal joint, 59% had sesamoid cysts, 53% had P3 rotation with a negative palmar angle, and 36% had P3 fractures of the front feet [ 21 ]. Additionally, all zoo giraffe in that study had osteoarthritis in at least one digit by seven years old and developed P3 fractures as young as 10 years old [ 21 ].…”

“…To help minimize procedure time, typically only one radiograph of each foot was collected. While orthogonal views would have been ideal, the feet were radiographed using an oblique projection that shows multiple radiographic foot pathologies in some zoo giraffe [ 21 ].…”

“…Each radiograph was evaluated by a veterinarian board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Radiology (MB) for evidence of foot pathology, and no additional information was provided about each giraffe before the images were reviewed ( Fig 2 ). Based on pathologies and existing rating systems described for zoo giraffe [ 21 ], each digit was assessed for the presence or absence of distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint osteoarthritis (OA), distal phalangeal bone (P3) fracture, P3 osteitis, P3 rotation, and for distal sesamoid bone cysts. The severity of P3 osteitis was also rated for each digit using a scale of 0 to 3 (0 for unaffected; 1 for mild osteitis with mildly irregular solar margins; 2 for moderate osteitis with moderately irregular solar margins and/or small area(s) of bone lysis; 3 for severe osteitis with markedly irregular solar margins and/or single or multifocal medial to large area(s) of bone lysis or extensive ill-defined lysis).…”

“…To better diagnose and manage chronic lameness without restraint or anesthesia, some zoos have trained giraffe to voluntarily participate in hoof care [ 20 ]. In at least one giraffe herd trained for front foot radiographs, there was a high prevalence of osteoarthritis, pedal osteitis, pedal bone rotation, pedal bone fractures, and sesamoid bone cysts [ 21 ]. Case reports suggest some of these pathologies also occur at other zoos [ 12 , 17 , 19 , 22 ].…”