The LEO Zoological Conservation Center (LEOZCC) in Greenwich, Connecticut, has announced the birth of a rare giraffe.
A six-year-old Rothschild giraffe named Petal gave birth to a female calf on Friday, March 22. The center has stated that Petal “has bonded extremely well” with the calf and that the calf was standing and nursing within half an hour of being born.
The Rothschild giraffe, named after Lord Walter Rothschild, is an endangered subspecies of giraffe. The gestation period of the Rothschild giraffe is 14 to 16 months (Petal’s was 15). The LEOZCC claims that there are fewer than 670 of the animals left in the wild.
The LEOZCC is a non-profit refuge for endangered animals. The organization focuses on breeding at-risk species, and has succeeded in the case of the Rothschild giraffe. This birth was the LEOZCC’s first giraffe birth.
The video below shows the calf standing up for the first time: