Fig 1.
Giraffe positioning during immobilization.
A leg rope was used on the giraffe for human safety during foot health evaluations and radiographs. The person holding the x-ray generator wore a leaded gown and a thyroid shield while collecting radiographic images. All other personnel were at a distance of at least two meters from the x-ray generator.
Fig 2.
Foot radiographs from free-ranging young adult giraffe.
Projections were collected with giraffe in lateral recumbency, using either a medial or lateral oblique projection (dorsomedial-palmarolateral or dorsolateral-palmaromedial oblique). (A) Normal front foot with no pedal osteitis or sesamoid cysts. (B) Abnormal front foot with mild (level 1) pedal osteitis on the dorsal surface (blue arrow) and sesamoid cysts (in circle). (C) Normal hind foot with no pedal osteitis or sesamoid cysts. (D) Abnormal hind foot with mild (level 1) pedal osteitis involving both the dorsal and plantar surfaces (blue arrow). In both the front and hind feet the sole plane runs parallel to P3 bone. Compared to the front foot, the hind foot has a more rounded toe tip of the distal phalangeal bone.
Fig 3.
Giraffe foot sole height was thicker by the heel than by the toe tip, demonstrating a positive palmar angle.
(A) Using an oblique view, sole thickness was measured from the most caudal and most distal weight-bearing aspect of P3. (B) For feet where medio-lateral or latero-medial radiographs were also available, the average palmar angle was 2.65° (range 1.88°-4.29°) and the average plantar angle was 2.26° (range 1.61°-3.23°).
Fig 4.
Lateral view of a giraffe front foot, showing a relatively straight coronary band.
Fig 5.
Solar views of giraffe front feet, demonstrating how hooves are self-maintained during the rainy season in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda.
(A) A well maintained balanced capsule and no hoof wall overgrowth. The wall at the toe tips and periphery (↑) is worn to the same level as the sole. (B) A foot with mild hoof wall overgrowth by the toe tip still maintains good foot symmetry medially to laterally, but has a slightly overgrown lateral toe tip (blue triangles). The medial claw hoof wall (↑) has broken or chipped off and is being worn off to the level of the sole. For the lateral claw, the hoof wall has grown beyond the level of the sole (blue triangles) and is starting to chip or break off. This suggests that many hooves are not getting much longer than moderate overgrowth before the process of exfoliation of the sole and breaking the hoof wall happens, which maintains the balance of the hoof capsule. (C) A foot with moderate overgrowth of the hoof wall, sole, and heel (↑). This foot has prominent sole papillae (□). (D) Close-up of sole papilla from 5C, which have a hair-like projections as the sole starts to overgrow.
Fig 6.
The solar surface of the giraffe’s foot is concave with hoof ground contact points around the periphery of the foot including the hoof wall, heel, and parts of the sole.
Paint marks the most prominent aspects of the sole with the giraffe in lateral recumbency, with most paint on the hoof wall and heel.
Table 1.
Radiographs demonstrated that foot pathologies were uncommon in these young adult free-ranging giraffe.
Table 2.
Foot radiographs demonstrate that P3 osteitis and distal sesamoid cysts were uncommon in both male and female free-ranging giraffe.
Table 3.
Radiographs show that the hoof was consistently thicker at the heel relative to at the toe tip in free-ranging giraffe, resulting in a positive palmar/plantar angle.
Sole heights were measured from the most palmar/plantar weight bearing surface of P3 (“heel”) and from the most distal weight-bearing surface of the P3 (“toe tip”).
Table 4.
Photographs demonstrate that hoof and heel overgrowth and dirt impaction of the sole was regularly present but foot pathologies were uncommon in free-ranging giraffe.
Table 5.
Photographs of the solar surfaces demonstrated hoof overgrowth in both the front and hind feet of free-ranging giraffe.
When sole overgrowth was observed, the underside of the foot remained concave but sometimes had small amounts of papillary growth.