Baby Giraffe Makes Exhibit Debut At Zoo Miami

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Visitors to Zoo Miami were in for a real treat Friday with the exhibit debut of the zoo's newest baby giraffe.

The unnamed female calf was born on July 22 and this was the first time she walked out onto the exhibit with her mother and other members of the herd, curiously exploring her new surroundings.

The newborn had been held inside a holding area with her mother to give them time to bond and to allow staff to slowly introduce her to the herd.

Shortly after birth, she received a neonatal exam where in addition to a general physical, she was weighed, had her blood collected and received a microchip for identification.

She weighed 149 pounds and is the fourth baby born to Sabra, her nearly 9 year old mother.  The father is a 6 year old named Titan.

PIX: Baby Giraffe Makes Public Debut At Zoo Miami

This is the 56th giraffe born at the zoo.

Giraffe have a pregnancy of approximately 15 months and the mother rarely, if ever, lies down while giving birth.  The baby falls about 4-6 feet to the floor where it receives quite an abrupt introduction to the world! Newborns stand nearly 6 feet tall at birth.

The status of giraffe in the wild has recently been elevated from a "species of least concern" to "vulnerable" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to significant reductions in their populations over the last several years.