It’s a little bit of sunshine through the clouds, The Toronto Zoo welcomed a brand new addition to the zoo in the form of a baby Masai giraffe they’re temporarily naming Baby Long Legs.
The baby is born from six-year-old Mstari and her mate, seven-year-old Kiko on Tuesday. The two were paired together by experts to help conserve the endangered African species. There are less than 35,000 Masai giraffes left in the wild, so this baby is extra-special.
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#BabyLongLegs has arrived 🦒 🍼. . In the early morning hours of Tuesday, May 12, 2020, Mstari, a six-year-old female Masai giraffe at the Toronto Zoo, gave birth to a healthy calf. Both mom and calf are doing well and Wildlife Care Keepers continue to monitor Mstari and calf closely to ensure calf continues to nurse from Mstari regularly. . This is the first offspring for both mother Mstari and father Kiko, a seven-year-old male who came to Toronto Zoo from Greenville Zoo in South Carolina in 2015. The pairing of Kiko and Mstari was at the recommendation of the AZA Masai giraffe Species Survival Plan (SSP), a cooperative breeding program among accredited zoos. . Fewer than 35,000 Masai giraffes survive in the wild, having experienced more than a 50% decline in the past 30 years. Illegal hunting and habitat loss are their primary threats. The Toronto Zoo is part of the AZA Masai Giraffe Species Survival Plan (SSP) and continues to support field conservation efforts for the species; Mstari is currently the most genetically valuable female in the SSP, and so this calf represents an important genetic contribution to the North American population. The Toronto Zoo has had 19 giraffes born since 1980, and this birth represents the first third-generation Toronto-born giraffe – both Mstari and her mother, Twiga, were also born at the Toronto Zoo. . Watch the full video on our Facebook, Twitter or YouTube page🦒 #savingspecies
A post shared by Toronto Zoo (@thetorontozoo) on May 13, 2020 at 3:09am PDT
Baby Long Legs is already a star, being featured on the Zoo’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok pages.
Without visitors the zoo is struggling to feed it’s animals and is asking for donations from the public until they can get their doors open again.
