Denver, the surviving giraffe at Reid Park Zoo, is in guarded but stable condition after eating toxic plants that killed a companion giraffe earlier this week.
"She's doing good this morning. Not perfect," Vivian VanPeenen, the zoo's curator of education, said Thursday. "We still have her in the barn and under watch. She is as good, if not better than, last night."
The 20-year-old giraffe is drinking water, and though she isn't eating much her kidneys and bowels seem to be functioning normally, VanPeenen said.
"She's stable. She's still upright and walking. She moves around easily," said Jim Schnormeier, general curator at Reid Park. "As each hour passes, we get a tad more comfortable."
Yet, "We're not going to take anything for granted. We're going to watch her carefully," he said.
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Denver and the zoo's lone male giraffe, 6-year-old Watoto, were fed toxic oleander cuttings Monday night by an apprentice zookeeper. The poisoning was discovered Tuesday morning when the regular keeper found oleander remnants in the stalls, Schnormeier said. Emergency measures were taken, but later that day Watoto's heart stopped, according to zoo officials.
The zoo's two other giraffes, Elinor and Texas, were not fed the toxic plants.
After a somber week at the zoo, keepers may soon have some good news. Reid Park's lioness might be pregnant.
"We're not sure, but she is on watch," VanPeenen said.
"She's young and it would be a first-time delivery, and very often first deliveries are not successful."
Nevertheless, zookeepers have taken the precaution of draining the pool in the lion enclosure to prevent accidental drowning of cubs if Kaya, who will be 4 in November, does have a successful pregnancy.
Keepers also are separating Kaya and her mate, Shombay, at night.
Kaya was introduced to her mate late last year. Shombay, who turns 3 this month, arrived at Reid Park from Fort Worth, Texas, in November. The zoo's other male lions, M'Bali, 22, and Kitabu, 18, died in 2010, before Shombay's arrival.
If Kaya is pregnant, she can be expected to give birth at any time, Schnormeier said.
Contact reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or at 573-4191.
