Rare giraffes born, one survives
Spencer said that despite the ‘‘great efforts of all involved, the male’s post-birth complications became untreatable and we took the very difficult decision on welfare grounds to euthanise the young male’’.
After pregnancies of 15 months, giraffes are born by dropping more than 2 metres with the mother standing up.
They are usually able to stand up and nurse within 30 minutes after birth but the male was unable to do this.
Despite being born about 12 days prematurely, things are looking better for the female calf with her 7-year-old mother, Kiraka, Spencer said.
‘‘She has developed a strong bond with her mother and we are optimistic for the days ahead.’’
Twin giraffe births are extremely rare with a little over 30 documented cases worldwide, Auckland Zoo said.
The zoo now has two male and three female giraffes.
Father of the twin giraffes, Zabulu, is a Rothschild’s giraffe, a sub-species of giraffe that is listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. The four other giraffes including the surviving twins are hybrid giraffes from different giraffe sub-species.
It is estimated that since 1998, habitat loss and poaching have resulted in giraffe populations plummeting from 140,000 to 80,000.
- Fairfax NZ