Marwell Zoological Park, near Winchester, is celebrating the birth of two baby giraffes within a month. The latest arrival was born on Friday 6th June and Keepers at the conservation charity have called her Tiye after a beautiful queen of Ancient Egypt. Tiye, who is already over 6ft tall, is being looked after by her mum, Mary. The name also means beautiful and gorgeous.
 
She joins baby Christa, who is being reared by her mum, Matilda. Born on Wednesday 14th May, Christa’s name has been derived from her father, Christopher who sadly passed away last year. Both babies are doing well and can be seen in the family herd at Marwell. 
 
Tiye and Christa’s arrival took a long time as giraffes are pregnant for around 15 months. Keepers kept a close eye on both mums during this time and were delighted when both babies were born without any complications.  Head keeper for the giraffes, Ian Goodwin said: “We are thrilled that Christa and Tiye are doing so well. Christa is full of energy and Tiye is looking every inch like her mum and dad as she has inherited their attractive dark markings.”
 
Matilda and Mary are both very successful mums.  Christa is Matilda’s fifth calf. Her youngest son, Taharqa, can also be seen in the family herd. Mary is also mum to another giraffe, JaJa, who is still living with the family group at Marwell.
 
Keepers hope that in the future Matilda will breed with Kismet, Marwell’s recently arrived new male. Matilda and Kismet are pure bred Rothschild’s giraffes, a species of giraffe that are in danger of extinction. It is believed that there are only around 600 Rothschild giraffes left in a few protected areas in Kenya and in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda.