Giraffe at Akita zoo gets artificial leg.AKITA, Japan, May 16 Kyodo A young giraffe giraffe, African ruminant mammal, Giraffa camelopardalis, living in open savanna S of the Sahara. The tallest of animals, giraffes browse in treetops at heights inaccessible to other leaf-eaters. A male may be 18 ft (5.5 m) from hoof to crown. at a zoo in Akita City in northeastern Japan has received an artificial leg after six hours of surgery, zoo officials said Thursday. The operation, which took place Tuesday, may be the first success of its kind in the world, the officials said. The nine-month-old giraffe named Taiyo broke his leg in March by bumping into a zebra in the Omoriyama Zoo in the capital of the prefecture. Doctors had put a cast on the leg but it soon showed sings necrosis necrosis /ne·cro·sis/ (ne-kro´sis) pl. necro´ses [Gr.] the morphological changes indicative of cell death caused by progressive enzymatic degradation; it may affect groups of cells or part of a structure or an organ. , which put the young giraffe's life at risk. During the surgery, the doctors made a 40-centimeter-long incision incision /in·ci·sion/ (in-sizh´un) 1. a cut or a wound made by cutting with a sharp instrument.incis´ional 2. the act of cutting. in·ci·sion n. 1. in order to attach the artificial leg, they said. The giraffe stands about 280 centimeters tall and weighs 200 kilograms. |
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