Dynamic Giraffe Duo Debuts at Zoo Miami
March 08, 2019
Zoo Miami's newest baby Giraffes recently made their exhibit debut!
For the first time, the handsome male that was born on February 13th and the lovely female that was born on February 20th, walked out onto the exhibit with their mothers and other members of the herd. The soon-to-be-named young duo curiously explored their new surroundings.
The two newborns had been held inside a holding area, with their mothers, to give them time to bond and to allow staff to slowly introduce them to the herd.
The male weighed 123 pounds and is the first baby born to his four-year-old mom, Zuri. The female weighed 161 pounds and is the sixth baby born to 12-year-old mom, Mia. The father to both calves is six-year-old Titan, who has since left Zoo Miami to join another herd at Busch Gardens in Tampa.
Photo Credits: Ron Magill/ Zoo Miami (For identification purposes: the baby with the dark thick, tufted horns is the female, and the adult giraffe with her in any photo is her mother, Mia. The lighter colored baby is the male, and the adult seen with him is his mother, Zuri.)
Giraffes have a gestation period of approximately 15 months and a mother rarely, if ever, lies down while giving birth. The baby falls about 4-6 feet to the floor, where it receives quite an impactful introduction to the world! Newborns usually weigh more than a hundred pounds at birth and stand nearly 6 feet tall!
Due to significant reductions in their populations over the last several years, the status of Giraffes in the wild has recently been elevated from “Least Concern” to “Vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
More amazing photos below the fold!