Perth Zoo recently shared the exciting news of a baby giraffe’s birth and a heartwarming video of the mother and her newborn.
The female calf, born to mother Kitoto, stands at 180 centimeters and weighs 55 kilograms. The birth occurred just before noon on Friday, following a two-and-a-half-hour labor.
According to Perth Zoo, the mother and calf are healthy and spend time bonding in the giraffe nursery.
Watch the video at the end.
Within 30 minutes of birth, the baby giraffe stood on her wobbly legs as her mother groomed her. Additionally, the calf began suckling and feeding within an hour after birth.
This birth marks the third calf for Kitoto and the zoo’s male giraffe, Armani, as part of a collaborative effort among Australian zoos to breed giraffes and combat extinction.
Ellie, another female giraffe at the zoo, is also pregnant and expected to give birth in the upcoming weeks.
Perth Zoo’s announcement video resembles the iconic 1995 photograph “The Kiss” of a days-old Rothschild’s giraffe named Mukulu at the same zoo, and in the image, captured by Ron D’Raine of The West Australian, Mukulu’s mother, Misha, tenderly “kisses” the calf’s head.
However, this gesture is considered part of a grooming ritual. Mukulu was later transferred to Melbourne Zoo, where he spent the rest of his life.
Watch the video below: