National Zoo welcomes new baby female giraffe

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The National Zoo and aquarium in Canberra have welcomed a new baby giraffe. The two-week-old female calf will play an important conservation role when it reaches breeding age.

Transcript

00:00 Well, it's a very exciting day here at the National Zoo in Canberra.

00:05 The giraffe family has a new addition behind me.

00:08 You're seeing baby Makali.

00:11 That's a Swahili word meaning bright, and she's just two weeks old.

00:16 Zookeepers say, though, that from now it's going to be a period of rapid growth.

00:20 Makali will double in size in her first year of life.

00:23 So behind her is her 17-month-old brother, Temba.

00:27 So that's a good comparison as to how quickly they grow in those first 12 months.

00:31 Now once Makali does reach proper age, she's going to join the breeding program here at

00:36 the zoo.

00:37 And zookeepers say that that's an important part of the conservation of this species.

00:42 Giraffe populations have declined by around 30%.

00:46 And it's important that there's a healthy population maintained in zoos, almost as a

00:52 backup in case those numbers continue to decline.

00:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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