Baby giraffe Shamari meets his herd

Name: Baby giraffe Shamari meets his herd
Uploaded: 2023-02-03T14:38:27Z
Duration: 5 min 30 s
Description: Shamari, a reticulated giraffe, was born right on the exhibit at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. Within about an hour he was up on his feet.

Shamari, a reticulated giraffe, was born right on the exhibit at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. Within about an hour he was up on his feet. more

Staff, visitors and volunteers got to watch the whole birth, which took about two hours. The keepers named him Shamari, which means forceful in Swahili, because he is such a strong little calf.

One of the first things he does is study the grown-ups, who tower over him in this strange new place. Then he takes off running, sure of himself. One viewer joked that he's not sure his legs work yet. If so, he's not letting it slow him down.

Two giraffes stand on grass near trees and a fence, one looking toward the camera and the other facing sideways. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — Early on, the new calf takes a long look at the adult giraffes around him.

Shamari stops in the grass and looks all around, at the trees and the open ground of his new home. His mother walks with him.

A young giraffe stands in a grassy field with trees and a fence behind it. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — Shamari stops in the open grass and looks all around his new home.

She is Zani, and she has done this before. Shamari is her second calf, and a keeper calls her protective, "if not a helicopter parent," always keeping a close eye on him.

His father, Matoto, came from Mogo Wildlife Park a few years ago as part of a breeding program, and Shamari is his fifth calf. Most of the time the newborn stays close to both parents, and the three of them huddle together.

Then the rest of the herd turns out for him. A big group of giraffes gathers, long necks up and tails flicking, and the new calf stands right among them.

Three giraffes in an outdoor zoo enclosure with grassy terrain during spring or summer daylight conditions. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — Shamari, a reticulated giraffe, was born right on the exhibit at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

Giraffes are a vulnerable species, with fewer than 120,000 left in the wild. This exhibit has never had five calves so close in age before, and the newest of them is living up to his name.