Hope had already gone into the chute for her daily weigh-in, and when the little giraffe saw the stuffed green frog and bottle at the side of her enclosure, she knew it was feeding time.
A little drool ran down her face as she quickly sucked up the 2-liter bottle of goat’s milk.
“When she sees that bottle come out, she comes right over,†said Miranda Weldon, one of the senior hoofstock keepers at .
That eagerness to eat and an average weight gain of 2 to 3 pounds each day are good news for zoo staff.
First-time mom Zola didn’t care for baby Hope when she was born on March 19. She was tiny in giraffe terms — 5-feet, 7-inches and 108 pounds. After eight to 10 hours, zoo staff decided to intervene.
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“It was definitely touch-and-go at the beginning,†said Josh Shandera, another senior hoofstock keeper.
Now, a few months later, zoomies often follow one of the five bottles she receives daily. She’s grown to 6-feet, 3-inches and 213 pounds — a weight gain of 105 pounds.
She spends most of her time with Betty, a 13-year-old experienced mom that keepers have paired with the youngster in lieu of her own mother. Betty enjoys being inside with the baby, a decision left to her by her zookeepers.
Hope often bumped against the much taller legs of Betty, who stands over 15 feet, and followed her example as Betty feasted on an elm branch hung on the fence in the Syd and Betty Cate Giraffe Herd Room. Betty will correct Hope’s behavior when needed.
“She has to teach Hope how to be a giraffe,†Shandera said.
It was close to a month before zoo staff knew that Hope, a reticulated giraffe, was out of danger. It took a village, Shandera said, to keep her alive.
Hospital veterinarians had to come up with the correct kind of milk and a plan of action, which included plasma transfusions from dad Jawara.
That big stuffed frog, held above Hope’s head, allowed her to root for her food, just as she would have with her mother’s underbelly. Wigs and a whole box of other stuffed toys weren’t to her liking.
The 11 members of the hoof barn staff took turns being with Hope night and day to monitor her condition, just as if she was a baby in the ICU. They nursed her through a gastrointestinal infection and a few other ailments.
“We were exhausted and tired, but we knew what we signed up for,†Shandera said.
Hope is the only giraffe he’s had to help hand-rear in his eight years at the zoo, and the staff has learned a lot.
In turn, docent Peg Pease, who has volunteered at the zoo for more than 28 years, took on the task of carrying for the hoofstock staff, who are in charge of 55 to 60 animals in addition to Hope.
She’s their No. 1 cheerleader and provided so much support that the staff wanted to name the baby giraffe Peggy in her honor.
They didn’t know that Pease had already been calling the giraffe “Hope†on her frequent visits. Giraffes are her favorite animal, and she said Hope is the cutest one the zoo has ever had.
“The vets and keepers are providing hope for her survival,†Pease said. “We all need a little hope in this world.â€
Now thriving, Shandera said Hope will be bottle fed for six to eight months. They’ll soon start adding alfalfa and grain to her diet.
With Betty around to keep an eye on Hope, she’ll gradually be introduced to Jawara and the other giraffes in the herd of 10. Zola will likely not provide maternal care, but they’ll get along as herd mates.
Human interaction will be kept to a minimum. She’s used to being groomed and weighed and is no longer on any medication. She sleeps in a nest of pine shavings in a corner of her enclosure.
“Hope tends to be pretty independent at this point,†Shandera said.
He’s been amazed by the interest in the little giraffe, so great that the zoo is . Weldon came up with the illustrations.
“It kind of brings together the two passions I have of art and animals,†she said.
The illustration includes purple vet wrap around Zola’s neck, once part of her iconic look. She wore it when she had a catheter in place for the easy administration of antibiotics.
Hope, Shandera said, has become a bit of a local celebrity.
“There are a lot of people rooting for her now and early on, and that helped,†he said. “I’m so happy now it’s a happy story.â€