MOGO Zoo welcomed a new member to the Rothschild giraffe family two weeks ago when eight-year-old Shani gave birth to a girl.
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The calf, which is yet to be named, is still wobbly on her feet and this week had her first taste of solid food.
Mogo Zoo operations manager Paul Whitehorn said visitors to the zoo could not believe she was only two weeks old.
“She is all legs at the moment and her brakes don’t work,” he said.
“She is starting on solids but will be on mainly milk for six to eight months.
“It really depends on the individual though.”
At only eight years of age, Shani is the youngest giraffe at Mogo Zoo to ever give birth.
Being the fourth one born at Mogo Zoo, the new calf is settling into a herd of six.
“Her sister is 18 months old and her brother is three,” Mr Whitehorn said.
“They all have the same dad but different mums.”
The new calf and her mum are in a separate enclosure to the rest of the herd but can still be viewed by the public.
“We will put her in with her brother and sister when she is a little bit older,” Mr Whitehorn said.
“We gauge it on the behaviour of the others.”
Giraffes are pregnant for 18 months and can only be imported to Australia from New Zealand.
“We have one of the best and most pure Rothschild giraffe lines in the Australasia,” Mr Whitehorn said.
“It’s really hard to keep pure lines pure in Australia.
“There is a shortage as there has been hybridisation of the sub-species.”
Considered to be one of the tallest species of giraffe, the Rothschild exists in only small numbers in the wild.
The keepers are busy thinking of a name for the new calf and expect her to be named in the coming weeks.
