TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Penelope, the five year old giraffe at Reid Park Zoo, gave birth to her baby just over two weeks ago on Martin Luther King Day. Her baby is the first giraffe to be born at Reid Park Zoo in 24 years.
Since he is the first baby giraffe to be born in so long, the zoo had a lot to prepare for.
“A lot of baby proofing," said Adam Ramsey, Director of Animal Care at Reid Park Zoo. "We walk the stall, looking at things from a different perspective because, obviously, they’re a lot smaller. We don’t want them to get injured in any way out there and we want things to be safe. In addition to that, there’s a lot of things behind the scenes that we did like adding extra bedding, dirt and things on the ground to give him better traction because newborn babies can slip and slide easily, and so we want to make sure that he’s got good footing back there."
Ramsey also mentioned that the new baby is already very curious about his new habitat.
“The first couple days, he was already coming up to the keepers, checking things out, and interested in the food. Mom was eating, and he’s not eating solid food yet, but he kind of nibbles them and sees what she’s doing. We didn’t give him the habitat right away because he needed a few days in the back to bond with mom, but as soon as we did open those doors, he was quick to come out,” said Ramsey.
He doesn't have a name yet but the staff picked out three of their favorite names and are letting the public choose which they like best.
The three names the public can vote on are:
Hidari, which means brave.
-Mosi, which means first born.
-Moyo, which means heart.
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