Disney’s Animal Kingdom welcomes a new baby giraffe
There’s a new giraffe in the herd. Disney’s Animal Kingdom welcomed a female Masai giraffe during the early hours of Sept. 22.
Rory Dwyer, an animal keeper at Disney, said everything is going well and the baby is healthy, weighing in at 156 pounds.
Other Disney cast members have described the calf as “a strong, feisty one for being just a day old,” according to Walt Disney World.
While the baby currently remains in the birthing stall and will be kept backstage for about two months before joining the herd on the savanna, she has ventured outside the barn into an enclosed area and caught glimpses of other giraffes over the wall.
“It’s very cognizant. It sees the door open, and it says, ‘Let’s go,’ ” he said. “It’s a little, strong kid. During our neonate exam we did yesterday, we were able to get hands on it and to make sure that it’s healthy, and it’s definitely a nice, strong, healthy baby girl.”
This is the second child for the baby’s mother, Mara, who gave some Disney visitors a show while birthing her son Jabari on Kilimanjaro Safaris in 2019. This time around, she gave birth quietly backstage.
“Mara likes to surprise us, so on Tuesday morning, she gave birth at around 3:30 in the morning, when the barn was nice and quiet,” said Dwyer. “When we know an animal is about to give birth, we actually do checks at various times throughout the night, and a keeper went in and said, ‘Oh, there’s a baby giraffe.’ ”
The baby is a third-generation Masai giraffe born at Disney. Her maternal grandmother is Kenya, who is prominently featured in National Geographic’s “Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom,” available now on Disney Plus.
“[The baby is] actually the 12th member of this current herd setup … so we’re really careful about how we introduce the other giraffes ,” he said .“Her grandma, which will probably be the first one that we introduce her to, is one of the giraffes that’s the star of the ‘ Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.’ ”
Dwyer explained that this birth is important because it helps bring awareness to the endangered status of many giraffe species, noting there’s been a decline of 40 percent in the giraffe population in the last 20 years.
“Giraffes are undergoing what we call a silent extinction,” he said. “People get excited about giraffes, and if they can learn that giraffes are endangered even by coming to Disney and seeing this little baby, they’re directly helping with conservation.”
Email me at kchristiansen@orlandosentinel.com. Want more theme park news? Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlando sentinel.com/newsletters or the Theme Park Rangers podcast at orlandosentinel .com/travel/attractions/ theme-park-rangerspodcast.