BIOMECHANICAL VARIABLES OF THE FOOT IN SOUND RETICULATED GIRAFFES (GIRAFFA CAMELOPARDALIS RETICULATA) IN HUMAN CARE

Lameness is an important veterinary and welfare concern for giraffes in human care. To date, there is limited information on the objective weight-bearing characteristics of the foot in giraffes, making evidence-based decisions for foot care and lameness treatment subjective. Eleven young-adult reticulated giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata; median age, 3.5 yr [range, 13 mon–13 yr]), with no clinical lameness or visible hoof overgrowth when viewed from standing, voluntarily walked across a commercially available pressure-sensitive walkway. Footfalls were analyzed for force, pressure, surface area, and impulse from each foot. The weight-bearing claw was also determined based on pressure in both the front and hind limbs. The data obtained suggest that the main weight-bearing claw is the lateral claw in both the forelimbs and the hind limbs the majority of the time, but is inconsistent. The forelimbs also had greater values for all biomechanical variables than the hind limbs. The higher force and pressure suggest that giraffe forelimbs are subjected to greater biomechanical stress than the hind limbs. The relative maximum force from front limbs to hind limbs was 59:41. For these clinically sound giraffes, the center of force was consistently located in the interdigital space approximately equidistant from the toe and heel correlating with the center of mass of the limb. Furthermore, foot strikes occurred in a heel-first pattern. A pressure-sensitive walkway was well tolerated by all animals in the study and may be used in future research to help further elucidate factors that contribute to lameness in giraffes.