Australia Zoo announces the birth of baby girl giraffe

By Nikki Dorrell

Australia Zoo announces the birth of baby girl giraffe
Australia Zoo has welcomed a second baby giraffe in less than a year, signalling the strength of its breeding program.

Last Thursday, first-time mum Sally gave birth to a happy and healthy baby girl at Australia Zoo, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The yet to be named calf weighed in at approximately 50kg and came in at just under 2 metres in height.

Australia Zoo curator Kelsey Engle said mother and daughter were doing well.

“She made her first attempts at walking around half an hour after being born, and it only took around another 30 minutes for the youngster to fully master those long gangly legs.”

Throughout Sally’s 15 month-long pregnancy the baby was carefully monitored through regular ultrasounds.

“It was an extremely active calf and often gave us a kick during the procedure during the last couple months”.

Although apparently quite surprised when her baby popped out, Sally’s motherly instincts soon kicked in and she began licking and cleaning the baby.

The new calf joins the already strong giraffe family at Australia Zoo and is another example of their breeding program’s success.

In October last year the zoo’s first baby giraffe was born and another one of the giraffes is expecting a calf very shortly.

The name of the new baby giraffe will be determined by a competition and selected by the Irwin family.

In the meantime, mum and bub are enjoying some bonding time.

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