A rare, nearly 6-foot-tall giraffe listed as an endangered subspecies has been born in a Connecticut conservation center.
Petal, a 6-year-old Rothschild giraffe, gave birth on Friday to a female calf as a group of other giraffes and staff at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center in Greenwich watched. The young animal is curious, approaching humans early on in its first days of life, according to Marcella Leone, founder and director of the center.
When fully grown, the giraffe could reach 18 feet in height. The calf, who will mingle with a group of five giraffes, including two pregnant giraffes, is the first born at the off-exhibit conservation center.
Rothschild giraffes were named and described by Lord Walter Rothschild, a British zoologist, after an expedition to East Africa in the early 1900s.
And March just might be a good month for baby giraffes. Another calf was born on March 14 at the Tierpark Hellabrun in Munich, Germany, last week. Both mother and baby are doing fine.
Associated Press
