Baby giraffe born at Chester Zoo is already towering above staff at 6ft tall
  • 2 years ago
Dramatic footage has captured the moment an endangered giraffe makes its grand entrance into the world - by falling more than two metres (6ft) to the floor. Incredible CCTV footage shows the adorable newcomer - a Rothschild's giraffe - fall onto a bed of soft straw, causing a bump that brought the rest of the herd to its feet. The calf - born on Saturday at Chester Zoo - is tiny in comparison to mum Orla, but was born already towering above staff at 6ft tall and weighing a whopping 72kg (11st). He has been named Stanley after Mount Stanley, the tallest mountain in Uganda in Africa, where the zoo’s conservationists are fighting to boost giraffe numbers. The incredible CCTV footage also shows the moment the newborn stands up and takes his very first steps and enjoys his first feed. Zookeepers say the first feed is ‘vitally important’ for the bond between mum and baby. Giraffes are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) - the world’s authority on the state of the natural world. Although Rothschild’s giraffe numbers are now increasing due to conservation efforts, fewer than 2,500 remain in East Africa. Giraffe team manager Sarah Roffe said: “Mum-to-be Orla was stood next to Dagmar, another experienced mum, for the delivery as she readied herself for the final push.
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