Cheyenne Mountain Zoo announced a healthy giraffe calf was born overnight Tuesday. The calf is the 199th successful giraffe birth at the zoo since 1954.
The sex, weight and height of the calf have not been determined. The giraffe is the second for mom, Msitu (pronounced miss-ee-TOO), and the third to be sired by dad, Khalid (pronounced cull-EED). The calf joins the zoo’s 16-giraffe herd. Following Cheyenne Mountain Zoo tradition, the calf will be named after he or she is 30 days old.
The zoo closed its giraffe building Wednesday to allow Msitu time to bond with her baby.
“Msitu was a great mom to her first calf, Emy, so she knew exactly what to do when this baby was born,” said Amy Schilz, animal care manager. “Since mom and baby appear to be healthy, our vet team has not needed to intervene. Itap best to let nature take its course.”
Because Msitu also born at the zoo, she grew up used to working with zoo keepers. Zoo staff was able to draw blood which allowed them to confirm her ovulation at the time of breeding and let them confirm the pregnancy early on. The zoo also was able to take ultrasound images of the calf during the pregnancy and were able to bank some of Msitu’s plasma in case the calf had needed it after birth.
Unlike Cheyenne Mountain, on Feb. 28.
Dobby was a surprise to zoo officials — and not simply because, at 23 years old, Kipele is the oldest of the zoo’s giraffes. In fact, mother Kipele was using birth control at the time of her impregnation, and resisted initial attempts for veterinarians to perform ultrasounds.
Because Dobby was having trouble standing and nursing shortly after birth, , which banks giraffe plasma for emergency situations.
The calf quickly recovered and gained 10 pounds in four days. .
