Los Angeles Zoo Welcomes Its Tallest Baby Giraffe Ever With Birth of 6-Foot-7-Inch Calf

Masai giraffe Zainabu gave birth to the record-breaking calf at the L.A. Zoo on April 8

Photo: Jamie Pham

The Los Angeles Zoo is welcoming a not-so-small addition.

According to a Wednesday release from the California zoo, on April 8, the L.A. Zoo's Masai giraffes, 10-year-old female Zainabu and 10-year-old male Phillip welcomed a healthy male calf.

The calf weighed 172 pounds and stood six feet seven inches tall at birth, making the baby giraffe the tallest giraffe calf born at the Los Angeles Zoo in its decades-long history.

The zoo added that it is still deciding on a name for the towering male calf.

"Every giraffe birth we have at the L.A. Zoo is exciting," Mike Bona, an animal keeper at the Los Angeles Zoo, said in the release. "I've worked with giraffes here since 2005, and I have to say, Zainabu is a wonderful mother — she knew exactly what she needed to do when her labor started. I am thrilled that we have this new calf to represent his endangered species."

Jamie Pham

This birth marks the fourth calf for Zainabu and the sixth calf for Phillip.

Masai giraffes are found in East Africa, specifically in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. The animals can grow to be up to 17 feet tall and weigh 2,700 pounds.

Earlier this year, the Lincoln Children's Zoo in Nebraska welcomed its first-ever baby giraffe. According to the zoo, the baby female reticulated giraffe was born on Jan. 29 to mom Zawadi.

The Lincoln Children's Zoo named the newborn Mosi, meaning "the first" in Swahili, an apt title for this history-making animal. Mosi weighed about 130 pounds and measured 5 feet 5 inches tall at birth, and was on her hooves and walking on her own just an hour after coming into the world.