The newest member of Houston Zoo’s giraffe herd was born on August 31st at 7:45pm. Mother Asali finished off her 14 to 15 month gestation with a three hour labour. Currently keepers are giving her some time to relax in the giraffe barn under the watchful eye of keepers and vets.
Once he is ready to emerge the barn his name will also be announced. It is going to be decided by Jim Postl, one of the zoo’s board of director members who brought the rights in a live auction at this year’s zoo ball.
Already the young calf is a large girl weighing 72.5kg (160lb) and measure 192cm (6ft 3in) tall. Hoofed Stock Supervisor John Register said, “It’s always exciting when we have a new baby at the zoo, and when that baby is more than six feet tall, it’s an incredible moment. Our team is thrilled to welcome a new baby to our giraffe herd.
As an adult this calf could reach 17ft (5m) tall, making it the tallest of the land animals, and weigh 1134kg (2,500lb).
Unfortunately being taller doesn’t make you safer on the African savannah with numbers dropping 40% across the continent to just 80,000 in the last decade.
Houston Zoo’s herd contains 10% of all the Masai giraffes which live in 28 North American zoos. They have Six males and Four females.
Photo Credit: Houston Zoo
