Chester Zoo stands tall
Margaret is the first female Rothschild giraffe born at Chester Zoo.
At only 5ft tall, she is also the smallest ever born there.
Tim Rowlands, team leader of the zoo’s giraffe section, said: “Margaret is one of the smallest giraffe calves we have ever seen. Her mother, Fay, isn’t the largest of giraffes and Margaret was 2 weeks premature - which might go some way to explaining her size.”
welcome addition
The birth of Margaret - who is named after Tim’s mum - is all the more welcome as there are only 600 Rothschild giraffes left in the wild, primarily in Kenya and Uganda.
Margaret would have poor chances of survival if she were born so early in the wild. She would be easy meat for predators. For adults, lions are the main killer as they are strong enough and heavy enough have to jump and hold on to bring a giraffe down. For a baby, many smaller predators would succeed.
Giraffe’s are usually pregnant for 14 to 15 months and give birth standing up. Within hours of being born the babies can usually move around themselves, although they tend to spend their first couple of weeks staying close to Mum.
Rothschild giraffes, also known as Baringo Giraffes, are one of nine generally accepted types of giraffe, which are spread across Africa from Chad to South Africa. They live up to 25 years in the wild but longer in zoos. Females grow to 16ft and weigh up to 1.1 tonnes.
“We have a good track record when it comes to breeding giraffes.”
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