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Video: Adorable Baby Giraffe At The Bronx Zoo
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 9, 2011
Modified Oct 9, 2011
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Photograph by Julie Larsen Maher
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 9, 2011
Modified Oct 9, 2011
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If you head to the Bronx Zoo for some fall festivities, you may also see a super cute baby giraffe named James Marjani! According to the zoo, he was born on September 14 and "was approximately six feet tall at birth and estimated to weigh more than 100 pounds." Big baby!
The zoo adds:
James Marjani is the first giraffe calf born at the Bronx Zoo since February 2009. He quickly bonded with his mother in the Carter Giraffe Building and joins the rest of the herd on nice days on the African Plains. He will nurse for approximately one year, but keepers expect him to begin sampling solid food at three months of age. Eventually he will transition to a diet of leaves, alfalfa hay, kale, pelleted grain, and produce.
Giraffe newborns start walking during their earliest hours and double their height within the first two years. As an adult, James Marjani could grow to more than 17-feet-tall and weigh close to 4000 pounds. In addition to his long legs and neck, he’ll also have a long tongue—up to 18 inches. Giraffes use their tongues to grasp branches and pull leaves from trees.
In anticipation of the birth, zookeepers prepared a stall with a heavy layer of straw bedding to help absorb the impact of the calf’s 6-foot drop from his mother. They kept mom and baby separated from the other giraffes for several days to give them time to bond, then slowly introduced them to the rest of the herd.
The Bronx Zoo names all of its giraffes in memory of Mr. and Mrs. James Carter, benefactors for whom the Carter Giraffe Building is named. His birth brings the herd to eight animals in total.
Awww. James Marjani's times in the exhibit are intermittent, but there are lots of other fun things to do!
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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