Busch Gardens Tampa officials announced the arrival of two baby reticulated giraffes.
One of the giraffes was born June 11 this year to a 15-year-old giraffe named Cupid. This was Cupid's seventh calf. The male calf was more than 6 feet tall and weighed 188 pounds. The other baby giraffe was born June 19 to Tesa, an 18-year-old giraffe. This female calf weighed 145 pounds and was 5 feet 8 inches tall.
According to an official blog post from the zoo, the calves were standing within one hour of being born and began nursing within two hours. Giraffes are the tallest mammals of the planet. Male giraffes grow to a height of 18 feet and females up to 16 feet. The gestation period for a giraffe is between 14-15 months, and the female gives birth standing.
The baby giraffes can now be seen on the Serengeti Plain at Busch Gardens, reports There Public.com
The reticulated giraffe is one of the more common giraffe sub-species that are kept in captivity, with approximately 450 animals being held in zoos across the world. It has been estimated that fewer than 5,000 remain in the wild (from an estimated 28,000 as recently as the late 1990s).
Reticulated giraffes are found only in arid areas of north and east Africa - in Kenya and in smaller numbers in Somalia and Ethiopia. Their distinctively "net-like" pattern, brown-orange spots and thick white lines sets them apart from the nine sub-species of giraffe. This body pattern helps to camouflage them in dense, dry vegetation. Reticulated giraffes are herbivores and forage on more than 100 different species of plants.
