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Giraffe calf - Source: ONE News -
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Auckland Zoo has welcomed a new addition to its family with a giraffe calf born on Friday.
The male calf is the zoo's 29th giraffe calf and was born just after 6am on Friday.
Standing at 1.8m tall and weighing 55kg the calf is the third for nine-year-old mum Rukiya and 11-year-old dad Zabulu. Their first calf born in May 2006 did not survive and their second, Forrest, not lives at the Australia Zoo.
Check out some pictures of the calf.
While mother and calf are in good health the team at Auckland Zoo are keeping a close eye on him.
"Rukiya and the calf seem to be doing well, but the three-hour labour was a little bit longer than normal, so she's going to be pretty tired.
"We're going to give her and her calf some time to bond in private like they would in the wild," says Auckland Zoo Pridelands team leader Nat Sullivan.
The pair will be gradually integrated with other giraffe, zebra and ostrich and zoo visitors can expect to see them within the next few weeks.
At some stage the calf will be relocated to another zoo in the Australasian region as part of the breeding programme.
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