The Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance welcomed its newest resident early Friday morning — a male reticulated giraffe calf born to parents BB and Jasiri.
Zoo spokesperson Jake Kubié said the unnamed calf was doing well Saturday after BB went into labor overnight Thursday. The zoo said in a news release that the calf’s feet were spotted at 4 a.m. Friday, and he was on the ground by 6 a.m.
“Delivery went very smoothly,” the zoo’s curator of large mammals, Maura Davis, said in the release. “BB is doing a great job.”
The delivery marked the end of BB’s 444-day pregnancy. Giraffes are typically pregnant for about 15 months — a long haul for any mammal, though elephants have them beat, with a gestation period of up to 22 months.
Although the zoo’s herd of Asian elephants are bachelors, its giraffes are encouraged to breed to help preserve the endangered species as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Giraffe Species Survival Program.
The indoor habitat of BB and her calf has been temporarily closed to the public to allow the two to bond, the zoo said. The calf will be introduced to his father and his other herdmate, Dobby, before making his public debut. In the meantime, the zoo said it plans to make a livestream of the calf available online.
With a $5 donation, members of the public can also vote for one of three names for the calf — Dagg, Thorn or Kujali. Kujali was leading the poll as of Saturday morning, raising $3,518 to Dagg’s $1,363 and Thorn’s $545.
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