Busch Gardens Gives Glimpse Of Adorable Newborn Giraffe

TAMPA, FL — Just in time for World Giraffe Day on June 21, Beau delivered a bouncing baby boy at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, adding one more reticulated giraffe to an endangered species.

The giraffe calf is Beau's third baby. Beau, who is 14 years old, delivered her first calf, Binty, in 2014, and her second, Patty, on the even of St. Patrick's Day, 2018.

The giraffe has one of the longest gestation periods in the animal kingdom. Beau was pregnant with her calf about 15 months, nearly twice as long as a human baby is in the womb. The park’s zoological team said the birth went off without a hitch. They are now monitoring Beau and baby as they enjoy some mommy and me time away from the public eye.

The babies are born front feet first with their neck and head stretched over the knees as if they are in flight. The superman position helps break the fall when they drop out of the mother to the ground 6 1/2 feet below.

Newborn calves weigh about 132 pounds and stand about 6 feet tall, making them one of the largest babies in the animal kingdom. Babies stay with their mothers 18 to 24 months before venturing out on their own.

Their numbers are on the decline with only 15,780 giraffes remaining in the wild, about half the number that existed 30 years ago, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation.

As a result of this decline, the reticulated giraffe was added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and listed as endangered in 2018. In recent years, however, numbers across northern Kenya appear to be increasing with improved community and private land conservation.

It is easy to see why this species is called the reticulated giraffe. Its rich orange-brown patches are clearly defined by a network of striking white lines, which continue the entire length of their legs.