Perth Zoo’s infant giraffe makes public debut

The young giraffe born at Perth Zoo at the beginning of the month has made her first public appearance.

The calf, the first giraffe to be born at the Zoo since 2012, was born to first-time mum, eight-year-old Kitoto, and dad, 15-year old Armani, on 7th March.

Kitoto came to Perth Zoo in December 2016 to be introduced to Armani as part of the Australasian giraffe breeding program.

The young giraffe, who will be named via a competition, has been kept out of public view for the first few weeks of its life to give it time to bond with its mother and get used to its surroundings.

Perth Zoo Senior Zookeeper Kaelene McKay commented "despite all the excitement over our new calf we wanted to give her plenty of time alone with Kitoto to bond, and then gradually introduced her to new experiences before she was ready to meet the public.

"Our calf met Armani on day six and he proved himself to be an excellent dad."

The calf also had to meet another female giraffe and two zebras who share the same enclosure.

Giraffe numbers in the wild have dropped 40% in the past 30 years and there are now fewer than 80,000 in the African savannah.

Image: Perth Zoo’s female giraffe calf stands with its mother Kitoto. Courtesy of Facebook. 

20th September 2017 - MOGO ZOO GIRAFFE BIRTH CAUGHT ON CAMERA 

29th May 2017 - PERTH ZOO TO ASSESS ORANGUTAN SECURITY AFTER PAIR ESCAPE 

18th May 2017 - NEW WESTERN AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT ABANDONS PLANS FOR OPEN-RANGE ZOO 

17th January 2017 - PERTH ZOO LOSES BREEDING RECOMMENDATIONS TO OPEN RANGE ZOOS 

24th November 2016 - PERTH ZOO TO RELEASE NUMBATS INTO PREDATOR-FREE WILD 

2nd May 2016 - AUSTRALIA ZOO WELCOMES NEWBORN BABY GIRAFFE 

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