Giraffe Gives Birth To Unexpected Calf At Maryland Zoo

A giraffe gave birth to an unexpected calf at the Maryland Zoo, officials said.

Zookeepers said they didn't know Kipepeo, the 4-year-old mama giraffe who had arrived at their facility in Baltimore last November, was pregnant. But they noticed a "slight change in her behavior” on March 26 and started to monitor Kipi, as she's called. She went into labor and gave birth early in the morning on March 27.

Her female baby calf has not been named but is reported to be doing fine, weighing about 128 pounds and standing at 6 feet tall.

Giraffes have a 450-day gestation period so Kipi was pregnant when she got to Baltimore, according to Erin Cantwell Grimm, mammal curator at the zoo.

There's no records of Kipi being bred before she came to Maryland and giraffes usually don't visibly show when they're pregnant because they're so large, experts said. A fecal hormone analysis is typically done to detect if a giraffe is pregnant.

Officials said Kipi likely became impregnated at her previous zoo in Texas, where she was kept with a herd of giraffes.

When she arrived at the Maryland Zoo, she was a bit edgy, but keepers attributed that to normal giraffe behavior of being at a new place. They put her with another female adult, Kesi, and hoped that having a companion that was familiar with the space and the keepers would help to settle her down, according to Margaret Innes, the general curator at the Maryland Zoo.

Innes said in an interview on Monday that unlike a human pregnancy, a giraffe's is not always easily visible.

"We had no reason to expect that she was pregnant,” Innes said. "Giraffes hide their pregnancies well.

"They're such large-bodied animals with very long, large necks, and fairly round bodies,” she said, "so that when they're carrying a much smaller animal inside, it's not that noticeable.”

The day before Kipi gave birth, Innes said, she "became quite restless” and instead of spending her day as she normally does, eating and resting, she was "not paying as much attention as she normally would” to her food.

Still, zookeepers didn't think she was pregnant and were concerned she might possible have a health problem or that something was bothering her in her habitat. They monitored her but it "wasn't until the actual birth,” when a caretaker saw hooves coming out, that they realized she was giving birth, according to Innes. The process lasted about 45 minutes and went fine.

"We were all pretty surprised,” Innes said. "It was all pretty unexpected, but of course a very happy surprise.”

Grimm said zookeepers are keeping a "close eye on the calf to make sure she hits her growth milestones and, so far, we like what we're seeing.”

Zookeepers said she's nursing well and "Kipi is being a great first-time mother.”
The giraffe house will be closed temporarily to give the new mama and her calf time to bond, officials said. Meanwhile, the zoo's male giraffe can be seen in its outside habitat.

Zoo officials said Kipi and her calf will likely be introduced to their outdoor habitat for visitors to see in June, and the zoo plans to hold a public naming contest for the calf.

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