Uzuri the giraffe gave birth to a female calf at 10:40 a.m. Tuesday, according to a press release from the south-side zoo. The calf, who is named Lizzy in memory of longtime zoo supporter Elizabeth Kruidenier, is already more than 6 feet tall and weighs in at 136 pounds. Both mother and calf “are doing well,” the release stated.
At 19, Uzuri is on the older side for giraffe mothers, so her pregnancy was categorized as “high-risk,” said Ryan Bickel, the zoo’s spokesman.
Video: Baby giraffe born at Blank Park Zoo
Video contains graphic images
“We are delighted that everything has gone well with this pregnancy and birth given Uzuri’s age,” zoo CEO Mark Vukovich said in the release. “The calf will be an ambassador for giraffes in the wild that are suffering from a dramatic decline in population due to poaching and habitat loss.”
While giraffes are not as endangered as the black rhino — the zoo’s pair also recently welcomed a female calf — the species has experienced a 40 percent drop in population since 1980 due to losing territory and breeding grounds across Africa, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation.
“Scientists put (the giraffe) on the official watch list of threatened and endangered species worldwide, calling it ‘vulnerable,’” a USA Today article reported last week. “That’s two steps up the danger ladder from its previous designation of being a species of least concern.”
Uzuri came to the zoo in 1998 along with three other females. In 2001, she had a calf, but it was a difficult pregnancy and the baby didn’t survive. Uzuri gave birth and has cared for this calf “without human intervention,” the release stated.
Soon after Uzuri's first pregnancy, all the female giraffes in the exhibit were put on birth control because the park’s sole male, DJ, had too many "living relatives" in the worldwide zoo gene pool, Bickel said.
“There are only so many spots at zoos for giraffes and there has to be a diverse gene pool, so the decision was made to put our three giraffes on birth control,” Bickel said.
In 2005, the genetic situation changed, and Uzuri and the other female giraffes were taken off birth control. In the decade since, Uzuri hadn’t conceived, leading the veterinarians to believe the birth control may have rendered her infertile.
“I won’t say the pregnancy was a miracle, but it was unexpected,” Bickel said.
The father, Jakobi, who came to the zoo in 2006, sired two healthy calves so far: Mkuu in 2008 and Sabra in 2010. A total of 11 calves have been born at the Blank Park zoo since it first opened its giraffe exhibit, according to the zoo.
In the spring, the zoo is scheduled to open its new giraffe barn, a state-of-the-art facility that will allow the giraffes to be on display during the winter.
“Giraffes are one of the most cold-adverse animals, but with the barn, people will be able to come all winter long and interact with the giraffes with a feeding experience and a classroom-sized addition where schoolchildren will come to have STEM conversations and classes,” Vukovich said.
