How Behavior Influences Hoof Health

A giraffe's natural behavior should influence how we design the environments they live in. When we design environments that are less than optimal in meeting their behavioral health, you see the side effects show up in their physical health. For example, if a giraffe spends time pacing, you might see malaligned hip joints, hoof wear and overgrowth in unusual patterns, and the potential for stereotypic behavior. This talk will cover ways we have worked on designing the environment to allow giraffe to do what they are built to do, and when they do behaviors we want to see more of, how that in turn affects their physical health.