13 May, 2016
Australia Zoo welcomes beautiful baby giraffe!
The giraffe boom continues…
Australia Zoo is thrilled to announce that at 12:15pm AEST on Tuesday May 10, our beloved Sally
the giraffe welcomed her second baby – a precious female calf. This new addition is the fourth
giraffe baby to be born at the Zoo in two years, with her sister Tulip and half-sisters Skye and Lily
already gracing our African Savannah.
With a giraffe gestation period totalling 15 months, this long-awaited birth signifies the
continuation of a successful giraffe breeding program at Australia Zoo as only 90,000 giraffes are
believed to be left in the wild.
Australia Zoo’s head of African animals, Manu Ludden is proud of 8 year old Sally and overjoyed
about the birth of the new calf.
“We’re thrilled to announce the birth of yet another beautiful, healthy baby giraffe! She was born
measuring just under 2 metres in height and was eager to get going straight away! She took her
first wobbly steps about an hour after being born and started feeding from her mother five
minutes later,” said Manu.
“Sally is being really attentive to her new baby which is a great sign and they’re both doing very
well health-wise. All our giraffe are extremely sweet natured and are very relaxed around the new
calf, but as with any family with a new baby, they are very inquisitive of our new addition,” she
said.
Our gorgeous new giraffe has been born just as Australia Zoo and Wildlife Warriors gear up to hold
the Steve Irwin Gala Dinner in Los Angeles, which is where her name will be chosen.
The Gala is held in honour of Steve’s legacy and will raise much needed funds for the Wildlife
Warriors charity, supporting conservation initiatives around the world including Ol Pejeta
Conservancy in Kenya, where giraffe are protected alongside critically endangered northern white
rhinos, black rhinos, lions, elephants, zebra and more by K9 units, an armed ranger team and
cutting edge anti-poaching drones.
Sally and her new baby will be taking some time out to bond behind the scenes, but Australia Zoo
will keep everyone updated on when the little one can be seen on our African Savannah via our
website and social media pages: www.australiazoo.com.au/giraffe
In the meantime, guests can visit the rest of our beautiful giraffe herd at Australia Zoo, or even
book in for a giraffe encounter – with proceeds going directly to our wildlife conservation projects
on the ground in Africa.
- ENDS –
For more information please contact the Australia Zoo media department on:
P: (07) 5436 2357
M: 0429 440 141
E: [email protected]