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Summary of Transcript:
I’m Vicky, one of the ungulates keepers at Auckland Zoo. As you can see behind me, we have a new member of our Zoo, whānau. Ungulate is just a fancy word for hooved stock, a hooved mammal.
This is our male giraffe calf. So Billy, his father, came to us three years ago from Australia Zoo as part of the Australasian breeding program. The team was monitoring the herd, Billy in particular, as he was getting closer to breeding age, and they did notice some behavioral changes.
This made them thinkKiraka might have been mated, and everything led on from there. So Tommy and I were in that night before, about nine o’clock at night, watching her, and we came in and did a visual check because we knew she was in labor. I went home and was on camera watch.
That night, she saw that her water bag had passed at 5.43 am. Tommy and I made it in, and most of the ungulates team was here for the entire birth, which was fantastic. He was born at 7.15 am, and he stood approximately at 8.01 am Kiraka straight away was a natural
Mother – from licking him when he was first born to stimulate his breathing to follow and cleaning him when he started getting up and walking around. So we noticed as she was birthing him that he would be pretty tall. One way we
I noticed his nose was already on the ground before he finished the birth, so he didn’t have that far to fall. He’s approximately 6ft 5 inches, around 195cms, which is quite tall considering giraffes are usually born about 6ft.
His grandfather Forrest is the tallest giraffe in a Zoo in Australasia; he’s been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records and stands approximately 18ft 8 inches tall. So the next steps for us will be slowly introducing him to the rest of the giraffe herd. We will be
Starting with the females, we’ll add Billy into the mix. Once the giraffe herd is all back together and integrated, we will introduce him to the zebra and the ostrich. I’m so excited and happy to be in this place right now.
There’s nothing better in a zookeeper’s career, especially as an ungulate keeper, to work with a baby giraffe calf—the highlight of my career. Today we’ve just put the giraffe into the African Savannah habitat. At the minute the
Our zebra is quiet. The calf walks around the habitat; he’s come out slowly as he’s only three weeks old. He’s still hesitant just because there are other species around that he hasn’t seen before or is still getting used to.
I guess energetic animals are keen and interested to see the little one. Out here, we also have the guinea fowl, so they’re a pretty noisy species, so he might be a little bit curious about the noises that the guinea fowl are making.
We got the first weight off him the other day. So he would have been about two weeks old at the first weight we managed to get, which was 111kgs, and we weighed him again two or three days after that, and he was 112kgs. So he’s actually. He’s growing at quite a quick rate at the minute.
Growing, let’s say, just under a kilogram every day, every other day. A male giraffe can produce over 1000 kilograms, just over a tonne, so the baby will eventually reach that size. At the rate it is now increasing, it will still take him quite a few years to get there,
But every day you come to the Zoo, if you’re a regular visitor, you’ll see a further development in him – it might be a slightly bigger height, he might be doing more activities, he might be seen over other areas of the environment. Once he stops suckling milk from Mum, he’s going.
To start testing solids, you might see him eating some leaves. The taller he gets, the higher the browse will be, and the more you’ll see him getting up to shoulder height, then to the neck size of his parents, and eventually becoming a fully grown giraffe over time.
So this is a fascinating time for the team. This is the first giraffe we’ve had with the current members of staff we have here. It’s also the first giraffe calf I have ever worked with. I’ve been a zookeeper for 15 years, so inspiring in the future to see you.
He develops over time, and we look forward to that journey.
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Summary of Description:
We’re excited to take you on the journey of Jabali’s first few weeks of life!
In this video, we follow ungulates keepers Vicky and Ben as they discuss being there for giraffe calf Jabali’s birth on 19 August and introducing him to his habitat mates, the zebra, ostrich, and guinea fowl, for the first time.
Our keepers watched her closely via CCTV cameras to ensure Kiraka’s pregnancy and labor went well. This enabled the team to head to the Zoo immediately at signs that her work was about to begin – and you can see this incredible footage in our video.
You can visit Jabali and his giraffe whānau this long weekend – we’re open Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (26 September) from 9.30 am – 4.30 pm, with the last entry at 3.30 pm.
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In this video, we follow.
Ungulates are hoofed mammals that belong to the grand order Ungulata. These animals, from Africa to North America, are found worldwide and come in various shapes and sizes. They can be divided into Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates) and Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates).
The most common type of ungulate is the artiodactyls, which include cows, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, antelopes, camels, and llamas. These animals have an even number of toes on each foot and walk on their entire sole. This makes them well-adapted to walking on soft surfaces like mud or sand.
Perissodactyls are the other type of ungulate and include horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs. These animals have an odd number of toes on each foot and walk on their middle toe only. This makes them better adapted for walking on hard surfaces such as rocks or pavement.
Ungulates play an essential role in many ecosystems around the world. They provide food for predators such as lions or wolves and help spread seeds through their droppings which helps plants grow in new areas. In addition, they also help keep grasslands healthy by grazing on vegetation that prevents it from becoming too thick and blocking sunlight from reaching other plants below it.
Ungulates are also important to humans because they provide us with food sources such as meat, milk, and leather products. In some parts of the world, they are also used for transportation due to their ability to quickly cover large distances without getting tired easily.
Unfortunately, many species of ungulates are now endangered due to hunting or habitat loss caused by human activities such as deforestation or urbanization. Conservation efforts are being made to protect these animals from extinction, but more needs to be done if we want future generations to enjoy them in the wild as we do today.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ungulate
- https://www.britannica.com/animal/ungulate
- https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/eutheria/ungulate
keepers Vicky and Ben as they discuss being there for giraffe calf Jabali’s birth on 19 August, and introducing him to his habitat mates the zebra, ostrich, and guinea fowl for the first time.
Our keepers watched her closely via CCTV cameras to ensure Kiraka’s pregnancy and labor went well. This enabled the team to head to the Zoo immediately at signs that her work was about to begin – and you can see this incredible footage in our video.
You can visit Jabali and his giraffe whānau this long weekend – we’re open Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (26 September) from 9.30 am – 4.30 pm, with the last entry at 3.30 pm.
*****
Source Description
We’re excited to take you on the journey of Jabali’s first few weeks of life!
In this video, we follow ungulates keepers Vicky and Ben as they discuss being there for giraffe calf Jabali’s birth on 19 August and introducing him to his habitat mates, the zebra, ostrich, and guinea fowl, for the first time.
Our keepers watched her closely via CCTV cameras to ensure Kiraka’s pregnancy and labor went well. This enabled the team to head to the Zoo immediately at signs that her work was about to begin – and you can see this incredible footage in our video.
You can visit Jabali and his giraffe whānau this long weekend – we’re open Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (26 September) from 9.30 am – 4.30 pm, with the last entry at 3.30 pm.
