Baby Giraffe!

By Amy Mikel in News on Aug 28, 2008 5:06PM

There is a new baby giraffe at Brookfield Zoo. The six-foot-tall male calf, born August 15, weighed 150 pounds at birth and is a welcome addition to the zoo’s Habitat Africa exhibit, which now has five giraffes. Giraffe Calf Facts: A new calf grows rapidly – sometimes up to an inch a day – and by 6 months will be fairly independent of its mother. Scientists have estimated that only 25 percent of infant giraffes survive their first year of life.

When we heard the news about the birth, we immediately made a mental connection between the new baby giraffe and the recent accidental death of a giraffe at the zoo earlier this year. It turns out that “Dusti”, who died of a broken neck from getting tangled in a rope, had fathered the new calf.

In related baby animal news: no word yet on the status of those flamingo eggs over at Lincoln Park Zoo. We did leave a message for the zoo's Bird Department though, requesting an update.

Update: The incubation periods have been expiring for the current batch of flamingo eggs, making it apparent that the eggs are indeed infertile. Megan Roff, the resident Chilean Flamingo expert at the zoo, thinks this is because the flamingos in the Flamingo Habitat are so new to the mating process. You can do it, boy flamingos!!

Image via e.q.