Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Continues Giraffe Breeding Success

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: September 29, 2020 11:30 pm

A giraffe calf has been born at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Photo Credit: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Bailey, an 8 year old reticulated giraffe has become a mother at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. She successfully delivered her female calf at 11.37am on September 29th 2020.

Keepers report that mom and bub are doing well after the birth. As is tradition at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo the calf will be named after 30 days.

Bailey is a first time mother while father Khalid has sired five other calves prior to this one.

“You couldn’t ask anything more of a first-time mom,” said Jason Bredahl, giraffe animal care manager at CMZoo. “Bailey is nonstop grooming her baby, paying attention and making sure the baby is in a good position to nurse. Mom is doing a great job.”

“This is probably the smallest giraffe calf I’ve ever seen,” said Bredahl. “Bailey is small for a giraffe, too, so that’s not surprising. She’s super adorable. She’s strong and is nursing well, so we’re really excited to share her with everyone as soon as we can.”

Keepers provided some initial help to the calf as she had trouble standing up due to being positioned in a corner of the barn. After a few attempts to stand by the calf, keepers and vet staff helped her to stand around 1.30pm and she then took her first steps.

While providing this assistance keepers and vets took the opportunity to perform a quick health check. They will continue to monitor the calf but will let mom take the lead on her care.

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A giraffe calf has been born at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Photo Credit: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo have a highly successful breeding program for the reticulated giraffe. Over their history they have welcomed 200 calves. With this birth the herd currently housed at the zoo includes 17 giraffes.

The barn at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s giraffe is currently closed while the calf bonds with Bailey but guests can view the new family on the giraffe cam. Thousands of viewers were able to watch the birth live on this camera.

View the giraffe camera here – Giraffe Live Stream | Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Along with being a leader in giraffe conservation in human care Cheyenne Mountain Zoo also support conservation for the endangered reticulated giraffe in the wild. As few as 11,000 reticulated giraffe remain in the wild. Their population has declined by 56% over 30 years.

They give support to conservation work including the Twiga IV program which has helped to create a new population of these giraffe.

Learn more about giraffe – Giraffe Fact File | The Animal Facts

Learn more about Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on their website – Cheyenne Mountain Zoo