Hunter Valley Wildlife Park giraffe Kebibi becomes first-time mum to male calf

First-time mum Kebibi has given birth to a bouncing baby boy at Hunter Valley Wildlife Park — the zoo’s first ever newborn giraffe. This is your opportunity to name him.

Hunter Valley Wildlife Park has welcomed its first ever baby giraffe – and it’s a boy! Picture: Jonathan Ng

Even six-foot-tall toddlers have to endure a wipe-down from their doting mothers.

First-time mum Kebibi has given birth to a bouncing baby boy at Hunter Valley Wildlife Park, the zoo’s first ever newborn giraffe, and the three-week-old, 80kg calf is already getting his running legs.

Australian Wildlife Parks zookeeper Chad Staples said it was a tense wait for staff — after a pregnancy nearly twice as long as a human’s and three hours in labour —, to see if Kebibi would show motherly instincts.

“It’s a 16-month gestation, so we’ve been waiting with bated breath for a very long time for this baby’s arrival,” he said.

“There’s very little intervention you can do (during birth), and thankfully we didn’t have to.”

The male calf weighs 80 kilos and stands six feet tall, less than three weeks after birth. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Kebibi gave birth at 6.30pm on September 15, under the cover of darkness for the final crucial minutes of her labour.

“We were actually there looking through a night vision rangefinder to check the birth was going well, because it was already dark and we didn’t want to disturb mum by putting all the lights on,” Chad said.

Kebibi gives her first calf a cleaning between the ears. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“You’re looking for that maternal instinct to kick in, because there’s nothing we can do to provoke that.

“Luckily mum was looking after him and licking him clean straight away.”

Readers of The Saturday Telegraph now have the unique opportunity to give the new calf his name, with his keepers to make the final call.

Chad suggested readers take inspiration from sub-Saharan Africa, the baby’s curious and confident personality, or to match mum Kebibi.

“It needs to be a beautiful name that will carry with him when he’s not a baby any more – it will be over one tonne and be a giant breeding bull one day, so it needs to suit him then too,” Chad said.

“It’s a huge responsibility!”

What would you name him? Pictures: Jonathan Ng

The baby giraffe is confident and curious, his keepers say.

The calf is “very confident”, Chad said, galloping around and checking out every angle of his enclosure.

“You see it in his eyes, he knows he’s in this big wide world now. Some babies will not leave the side of mum, but he’s happy to explore.”

At a height of 6ft the baby giraffe is already taller than most humans, by the time he’s considered a mature adult at five to seven years old, he will grow to over 4 metres. Male giraffes may leave this mums and become the dominant adult in their own herd by the age of 18 months.

When he grows up, the Hunter Valley Wildlife Park baby will be transported more than 350 kilometres south to Mogo Wildlife Park near Batemans Bay on the NSW South Coast, where he will become the breeding bull.

What do you think the new bub should be named? Put your suggestions in the comments.

Originally published as Hunter Valley Wildlife Park giraffe Kebibi becomes first-time mum to male calf