Germany: Baby giraffe born in Karlsruhe Zoo

Berlin: A baby giraffe was born on Sunday in the Karlsruhe Zoo in Germany's southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, the zoo said.

This is the first time the giraffe Wahia has given birth in at least nine years, according to the zoo. She has given birth three times in total.

Wahia delivered the baby after 15 months of pregnancy.

A zoo spokesperson said that it was still unclear if the baby was male or female.

Wahia and two other female giraffes had been transferred to the Opel Zoo in Kronberg im Taunus in the western state of Hesse to allow for renovations in Karslruhe's African savannah enclosure.

While in Kronberg, the three females spent two months with the bull Timon.

One giraffe stayed in the Kronberg zoo, while Wahia and another female were taken back to Karlsruhe in summer of 2023.

This is not the first giraffe birth in Germany this year — in June, a Rothschild giraffe was born in Berlin's Tierpark zoo.

Baby belongs to endangered subspecies
The reticulated giraffe subspecies that Wahia and her young belong to is classified as "endangered," according to the Red List of the Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The subspecies is native to parts of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. The IUCN said habitat loss, deterioration in habitat quality and poaching threaten the animal's survival.

The Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper cited the Karlsruhe Zoo as saying that there are only around 10,000 members of the subspecies in the world. The zoo participates in the European conservation breeding programme of the EAZA association of zoos.