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Tulsa, Ok - In the animal kingdom, it's what sets them apart, their calling card. That wonderously protracted, elongated, amplified, neck.
"It's not something that's common," said Tulsa Zoo vet Dr. Kay Backues, describing the condition of the zoo's newest giraffe, Amali. A 5 year-old female suffering from a super-sized pain in the neck, or in doctor lingo...
"It could be accurately described as a subluxation of that joint," she said.
How that joint got out of whack is unknown. Amali was fine when she departed from a conservation center called The Wilds in Ohio. The trip took 48 hours in a specially modified trailer.
"We know it somehow happened in transport, we don't know what happened," said Dr. Backues.
Animal transport guidelines mandate visual checks every 4 hours. The zoo says the driver didn't notice anything wrong until the moment of delivery. News Channel 8 was unable to get ahold of the company that delivered Amali. As to how she's doing?
"She's functioning normally, she's walking around normally, eating, drinking, interacting with the other animals," she said.
Amali is also on a cocktail of muscle-relaxers, anti-inflammatories, and pain relievers. They're not sure if it's broken, but they are sure it won't fix itself.
"No, its not going to pop itself back in," she said.
The zoo did not take out an insurance policy on the trip from ohio from tulsa. Officials also say they do not intend to file any sort of claim against the company that delivered Amali because they don't think the company did anything wrong.
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