April Showers Bring Masai Flowers – Baby Giraffe at the Zoo!

April 11, 2017 by Jackie Wallace

The Houston Zoo is proud to announce the birth of a female Masai giraffe, born at 9:04 a.m. on Monday, April 10 in the McGovern Giraffe Barn at the African Forest. After a 2-hour labor both mom, Tyra, and the yet-to-be-named calf are doing well and are currently bonding behind the scenes with keeper and veterinary teams watching over the pair. After a few days alone with her mother, the new calf will make her public debut.

On average, giraffe pregnancies last from 14 to 15 months. A new born Masai giraffe calf typically weighs between 125 and 150 pounds at birth and measures approximately six feet tall. Giraffes are the tallest living terrestrial animals, with the average male standing at 17 feet tall and weighing 2,500 pounds. Females average more than 14 feet tall. The new calf weighs 139 pounds and is estimated to be 6 feet 3 inches tall.

Over the last decade, the number of giraffes in the wild has dropped by 40%, with less than 80,000 giraffes remaining. Of the nine subspecies of giraffes, the Houston Zoo is now home to six Masai giraffes.

Saving Giraffes in the Wild

You help save giraffes in the wild every day! Proceeds from every zoo admission ticket and membership help protect giraffes in the wild.

The Houston Zoo provides funds and training for local people in Africa to protect wild giraffes from poaching and harm. They walk long distances in areas of Africa where giraffe live to arrest illegal hunters and collect harmful wire traps set for wildlife in the trees and bushes.

The Houston Zoo provided training and funds for Enock Zulu, an Anti-Poaching Unit Manager leading a local community anti-poaching unit in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. In his six years of leadership, Zulu’s teams have collected over 12,784 wire traps, rescuing 11 animals from snares, and have arrested over 89 poachers.

Thank you for helping us save animals in the wild!