Audrey, a Masai Giraffe at the Santa Barbara Zoo, delivered her third calf in four years on November 13. The baby, a male, arrived less than two hours after keepers observed the onset of labor.
Most Giraffe calves stand within about an hour of birth. This calf, named Buttercup by zoo donors, attempted to stand just 15 minutes after birth. The floor was slippery due to the birth fluids, and keepers decided to step in and help Buttercup get upright. After they moved him to a drier spot on the floor, the calf got his footing and took his first wobbly steps.
Another indicator of a healthy calf is nursing within a few hours of birth. Buttercup nursed about two-and-a-half hours after birth. At four days old, Buttercup visited the zoo’s Giraffe exhibit with Audrey, where he met the zoo’s other adult female Giraffe, Betty Lou, and saw the Zoo Train for the first time.
“Our professional staff prepared for and implemented the plan for an easy and healthy birth,” said Zoo Director Nancy McToldridge. “Everything went smoothly, even when Buttercup needed to be moved to a drier spot in order to stand up.”
“Because there are just over one hundred Masai Giraffes in captivity in North America, each birth and each Giraffe is very important,” said Sheri Horiszny, Director of Animal Care. “I’m very proud of our sire Michael, as he’s now clearly a proven breeder, and his genetics greatly help the diversity of our Masai population.”
Betty Lou is also pregnant, and Giraffe keepers estimate that she will give birth in March 2015. The sire in both pregnancies is Michael, the zoo’s only male Giraffe. Giraffes have a 14.5-month gestation period.
Masai Giraffes are the tallest of all Giraffe subspecies and are found in Kenya and Tanzania. Like all Giraffes, this subspecies is declining in the wild due to loss of habitat. Conservation programs hold the key to survival for all wild Giraffes.
See more pictures of Buttercup below.