Giraffe born at Wellington Zoo for first time in nearly 20 years

A baby giraffe has been born at Wellington Zoo, the first to be born at the zoo since 2004.

The mother, Zuri, went into labour at 2am yesterday morning and gave birth four hours later at 6am, marking the end of a long pregnancy.

“Our Animal Care and Veterinary team had been monitoring the footage every single hour for the past few weeks, making sure we would be ready for the birth,” Nic Dunn, the zoo’s animal care manager, said.

While the calf has not been named yet, the zoo did confirm she is female, “which we are thrilled about”.

The pair are being separated from the other giraffes at the zoo, Sunny (the father) and Zahara, so they can “spend time bonding” while staff “[keep] a close eye on them to ensure the calf is reaching appropriate milestones”.

Giraffe pregnancies can last anywhere between 457 to 466 days — so zookeepers and vets monitored CCTV footage “every single hour for the past few weeks, making sure we would be ready for the birth”.

“The newborn’s arrival has been long awaited, and we are thrilled for the calf to be joining our Zoo whānau”, Zoo chief executive Karen Fifield said.