After being nursed back to health, baby giraffe reunited with her mother at Safari West

A giraffe calf at Safari West in Santa Rosa who had been cared for by park staff since a feared infection at birth two weeks ago was reintroduced to her mother over the weekend.

After noticing her temperature was low, keepers decided to separate the calf from her mother, Malaika. They gave her an IV through her neck to administer antibiotics and fluids to help get her healthy. A few days later the 24-hour care soon included bottle feedings at 6 a.m., 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The new calf, who has yet to be named, was reintroduced to her mother Saturday when keepers Nikki Smith and Ellie Gressman opened the doors to the giraffe barn and nudged her outside.

Mom Malakai continued to walk away from the calf. The keepers then brought in cottonwood leaves, a favorite treat of the natural browsers, to keep her still while encouraging the calf.

The baby continues to try but not succeed in latching on to feed, so the women in charge of her care will continue to wake early to feed her for the time being.

The tower of giraffes at Safari West, which was recently named one of the top 10 safari parks in the country, are anticipating five new babies this year.

Safari West, north of Santa Rosa, spans 400 acres and is home to more than 80 species of animals including giraffe, cheetah, lemurs, addax, and zebra.