160-pound baby is first giraffe born at Kentucky zoo in 12 years. See ‘bundle of joy’

The Louisville Zoo in Kentucky is celebrating the arrival of its first baby giraffe in 12 years.

“There’s a six-foot-tall bundle of joy at the Louisville Zoo,” staff said in an Aug. 12 news release.

After a 15 to 17 month pregnancy, mother Kianga gave birth to the calf on Aug. 9. The “little” one was 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed 160 pounds when he was born.

“We are delighted to celebrate this important birth,” Dan Maloney, director of the Louisville Zoo, said in the release.

The calf is a Masai giraffe, a species native to East Africa that also happens to be the tallest living mammal on Earth, according to the zoo.

Masai giraffes grow to weigh up to 18,000 pounds and stand up to 18 feet in height, the zoo says.

Their brains are so far from their hearts, they need to maintain extremely high blood pressure for their own survival. Blood from their massive hearts must travel 7 to 8 feet up to the brain with each pump.

The zoo said it will announce the name of the new Masai giraffe “in the coming weeks,” and he will soon be available for visitors to see.

This story was originally published August 12, 2024 at 3:08 PM with the headline "160-pound baby is first giraffe born at Kentucky zoo in 12 years. See ‘bundle of joy’."