POWELL – The staff at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium are celebrating the arrival of a 150-pound, six-foot bundle of joy: A bouncing baby giraffe.
The baby, born at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, is the first giraffe calf born at the zoo in nearly 20 years and the first to be born in the Heart of Africa exhibit since its 2014 opening, spokeswoman Elizabeth Zimmerman said.
The calf’s mother is eight-year-old female Masai giraffe Zuri, who came to the zoo in 2013 after living at The Wilds in Cumberland and at the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin, Texas, where she was born.
Father Enzi is an eight-year-old breeding male Masai giraffe who also came to the zoo in 2013 after first being at The Wilds and the Toledo Zoo, where he was born. The pairing of Enzi with Zuri was based on a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan, Zimmerman said.
The sex of the calf, the 19th giraffe to be born at the Columbus zoo, is not yet known.
Newborn calves can weigh anywhere from 100-150 pounds and are, on average, around six feet tall, Zimmerman said.
Another blessed event could be right around the corner as the zoo’s staff is also monitoring six-year-old Cami for the arrival of her calf. Cami came to the Columbus Zoo in 2013 from the Nashville Zoo in Tennessee and the father of her calf is also Enzi. Giraffes typically have a gestation period of around 15 months.