THERE’S A NEW arrival at Dublin Zoo, and he’s probably already nearly as tall as you.
The male giraffe came into the world last Wednesday night standing at an impressive 1.7 metres (that’s around 5’5″) much to the the delight of his parents Maeve and Robin.
The calf, who is as yet unnamed, took his first steps outside in the African Savanna section of the zoo on Monday.
He’s a Rothschild giraffe, which is one of the most threatened of the nine giraffe sub-species. Fewer than 670 Rothschild giraffes remain in the wild.
All images: Patrick Bolger
This bruiser is expected to grow to around six meters in height, and will eventually weigh in at over 2000kg.
Gerry Creighton, who’s operations manager at Dublin Zoo says that the meeting of the calf with the rest of the herd of eight giraffes on Monday “could not have gone better”.
Maeve is an experienced mother and is very attentive towards the calf. The calf was also introduced to his father Robin for the first time this week.
