The Denver Zoo has a new baby giraffe.
Mystic, a reticulated giraffe, was born on July 6, 2006 to parents Janie and Dikembe.
Mystic’s birth took less than an hour of labor, said the zoo, in a press release announcing her birth. She stood within an hour of being born, and was nursing within two hours of birth.
Giraffe babies spend 15 months in the womb. Mystic will nurse for about six months. She weighs 136 pounds. She’ll double in height, to about 12 feet tall, within the next two years.
Her father, Dikembe, is the zoo’s tallest giraffe, at about 15 feet, 8 inches tall.
Reticulated giraffes are native to the dry savannahs and open woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa.
Since her birth, Mystic has been bonding with her mother inside the Giraffe House, but is now on exhibit in the habitat’s outdoor yard.
