A baby reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata) at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Kansas continues to beat the odds after an emergency C-section. The baby named Milani officially gets up, goes to bed and even poops on her own, milestones that seemed nearly impossible after her tenuous entry into the world.

Milani’s story.

Earlier this month, veterinarians performed an emergency C-section on Milani’s mother Virtue. The mother’s organs began to fail while she was still pregnant and veterinarians had no way to save her. But there was still a chance that her unborn calf could survive. The team performed a terminal cesarean section, an operation in which the mother does not survive. Virtue was sedated, her calf removed, and then humanely euthanized.

“Every giraffe neonatal specialist and veterinarian we consulted told us they had never heard of a premature giraffe born this way surviving. And yet… It took its first breath,” the wildlife park wrote in a social media post.

Giraffe mothers often give birth while standing, and the fall of the newborn (which can fall up to six feet) triggers its first breath and helps break the umbilical cord. The calf is then usually up for five to 20 minutes and nurses within the first hour. Without its mother’s first milk, called colostrum, the calf does not have its own functional immune system. This lack of immunity was Milani’s main problem in those early days.

24 hour attention

Now the calf is being cared for 24 hours a day. The team is administering plasma to compensate for the lack of maternal antibodies, a controlled feeding regimen, as well as blood tests, temperature, hydration and constant glucose monitoring. She also has at least two people with her at all times.

The park has been providing updates on social media, with one revealing that shortly after its birth they had to stabilize the calf’s temperature and give it supplemental oxygen.

On July 25, the park announced that its name is Milani, which means “new birth” or “new era.”

The name also honors Mili, the giraffe whose donated plasma helped save his life. The zoo’s herd of giraffes have also taken turns guarding her.

“Part of owning and caring for animals is losing them, but it’s rare that you have the opportunity to save one at the same time. It’s amazing to see people come together to do the unthinkable,” Matt Fouts, director of Tanganyika Wildlife Park, said in a statement earlier this month. “Our team and all the experts we have consulted have fully embraced our core value of Refusing to Lose and invested their time and talent to give this calf the best chance at survival.”

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