Paris, France — It’s a girl. Last September 12th, a Kordofan giraffe was born in the Zoological Park of Paris. She became a part of the beloved group of giraffes that is made up of eight females and two males. The birth marks the first at the zoo, which is managed by France’s National Museum of Natural History, since 2019. It is an important step in the conservation of this emblematic mammal that is critically endangered in the wild. The young female becomes the 160th baby giraffe born at the Paris zoo since its creation in 1934. The giraffes have somewhat of a celebrity status in Paris which was further enhanced when during a vast renovation project of the zoo which was completed in 2014, the giraffes had to remain behind in their enclosure because the road bridges that been built above roadways to and from the zoo were too low lying for the very tall animals to pass beneath. They were regularly visited by television crews to recount their moments alone. 

The giraffe was born in the early hours of September 12th. Giraffes give birth standing up and the baby was born onto a bed of straw after a 6.5 foot  (2-meter) fall from her mother’s womb after a gestation period of 14 months. She weighed in at 97 pounds (44 kilograms) and measured 5 foot and four inches (165 centimetres) at birth. She is now one month old. 

The Kordofan  giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis c. antiquorum, is one of four distinct species of giraffe recognised by the Okapi and Giraffe Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which lists the species as being critically endangered in the wild. The Paris Zoo (Parc zoologique de Paris) actively participates in the European reproduction program that aims to maintain a genetically viable population in captivity. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette

https://www.mnhn.fr/en