Zoo awaits births of two giraffes
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium celebrated World Giraffe Day with a big announcement Thursday — well, technically, two.
A pair of female giraffes are pregnant.
The births, expected in the next few months, would be the zoo’s first since 1999 and the first in its Heart of Africa region, which opened in 2014.
The expectant mothers are 8-year-old Zuri and 6-year-old Cami. Zuri is due to give birth between late August and mid-September, and Cami between late September and mid-October. The gender of the calves is not yet known.
The father of both calves is 8-year-old Enzi.
All three giraffes have been at the zoo since 2013.
Zuri was previously at The Wilds in Muskingum County and Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin, Texas. Cami came from the Nashville Zoo in Tennessee. Enzi has resided at both The Wilds and the Toledo Zoo, where he was born.
The breeding was recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a nonprofit group of more than 230 accredited members in the United States and abroad. • See the zoo’s two pregnant giraffes in a video at
A giraffe is typically pregnant for about 15 months. The species gives birth standing. A newborn calf usually weighs 100-150 pounds and is about 6 feet tall.
Giraffes are vulnerable in their native range across southern and eastern Africa, according to the International Union for Two giraffes at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium are pregnant. The zoo announced Thursday that 8-year-old Zuri, left, and 6-year-old Cami are expected to give birth in a few months. The gender of the calves is not yet known. Their father is 8-year-old Enzi. Dispatch.com.
Conservation of Nature. Their populations are decline due to multiple factors, including habitat loss, poaching, ecological changes and military operations and civil unrest in the area.