Camel named Liberty born at Lazy L Safari

At less than a day old, the camel calf — born on Memorial Day and so named Liberty — appeared to have more leg than it knew what to do with.

“I’m not sure what she weighs, but it’s probably not too much,” said Vicki Lantz, co-owner of Lazy L Safari Park in Cape Girardeau. “They’re kind of just all legs at first, aren’t they?”

They are indeed, with a small, nearly humpless torso perched atop the thin wobbly legs.

Long lashes rimmed her big dark eyes; all-white fur covered her frame. Already, she was taller than 7-year-old Jack McNeely who watched as Lantz fed the calf.

Teresa Fulford had brought McNeely and his friend Matthew Popp to see Liberty after seeing a photo of the camel online.

Liberty, a camel born on Memorial Day, gets cleaned up after being bottle fed by Vicki Lantz, co-owner of the Lazy L Safari Park, on Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.Glenn Landberg

“I think it’s just really awesome to see,” Fulford said. “We were out here one time when a baby goat was being born. Us city people, this is how we figure out how things are really done.”

Lantz said that after 13 months of pregnancy they knew Liberty’s mother was nearing her due date. The mother camel was giving rides right up until go time Monday.

“Then the kid giving rides came and got us and said, ‘Um, I think you better come look at her,’” she said. “It was a good thing that we were here though, because when she came out, she had placenta covering her mouth and she wasn’t breathing. They had to pump on her a little bit but then she started breathing.”

Within 10 minutes, Liberty was trying to muster the strength to stand and walk.

Liberty had to be bottle-fed bovine colostrum for at least 24 hours, Lantz said.

Liberty, a camel born on Memorial Day at the Lazy L Safari Park, Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.Glenn Landberg

“We’ve been giving her the bottle about four times a day,” Lantz said. “We were up in the middle of the night last night feeding her since it was her first night.”

Bottle-feeding a camel calf, it seems, is a somewhat difficult task. Liberty’s fussing and harrumphing as Lantz tried to nurse her would have made her camel mother proud.

After the calf took about half the bottle, Lantz went to rewarm the rest. Liberty folded up her gangly legs underneath her and slumped into the hay looking satisfied.

She’ll stay white, Lantz said, and probably join her son Chance Lantz’s traveling petting zoo.

In the meantime, though, she and the rest of the camels can be seen at the Lazy L Safari Park.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

Lazy L Safari Park, Cape Girardeau, Mo.