Auckland Zoo welcomes new giraffe

Auckland Zoo has welcomed a healthy baby giraffe, the 29th to be born at the zoo.

The 1.8m tall, 55kg male calf was born after a longer-than-usual three hours of labour at 6am Friday, the zoo's website said.

It is the third offspring of mother Rukiya, 9, and Zabulu, 11. Their first calf, born May 2006, died.

Auckland Zoo Pridelands team leader Nat Sullivan said the mother and calf would gradually be integrated into the giraffe paddock.

Zoo visitors should be able to see the calf in a few weeks before it is eventually relocated to another zoo as part of an Australasian breeding programme.

Auckland Zoo currently has three giraffes, and will soon have a fourth from Monarto Zoo in Adelaide.

- NZPA