MECHELEN, BELGIUM (Reuters) — Belgium’s Planckendael Zoo welcomed a new arrival on Thursday (January 19), a baby giraffe born from mother Megara, who was also born in the zoo.
Video released by the zoo showed the birth, with the mother standing and the baby falling about two meters.
Megara gave birth in the morning before dawn when caretakers were not there, but the zoo said the mother and her baby were doing well. It was Megara’s first offspring.
This was the first birth of 2017 at Planckendael Zoo, but they said in a statement they were expecting another baby giraffe later in the month.
The zoo has not yet named the baby giraffe and have yet to determine the sex.
Once caretakers announce the gender, people can suggest a name that must start with the letter S. And a poll will choose among the three most popular ones.
The baby giraffe was 1.75 meters tall (5.7 feet) when it was born. When it reaches its adult size, it can reach 5.5
(18 feet) if it’s a male, or 4.5 meters (15 feet) for a female. Gestation for giraffes is about 15 months.
