Fourth baby giraffe of year born at Tanganyika, but you can’t see her — yet

If you want to see a new baby giraffe, you won’t have to go far. But you will have to wait.

A giraffe was born just before Christmas at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard, but visitors will have to wait until the park reopens in the spring to see her in person. The park is looking at web cam options for people to see the baby during the winter, assistant director Matt Fouts said.

Fouts said the giraffe will still be at the park in March because baby giraffes typically are not weaned off their mothers for five months. Come May, though, she may not be there anymore.

“We have a waiting list of zoos wanting giraffes, and with her being a female, she’s kind of in demand,” Fouts said. “But we would also like to grow our herd.”

The wildlife park breeds rare and endangered species and provides them to zoos across the country.

The baby giraffe is the 53rd born at Tanganyika and the fourth of the year. She joins her mother, Ismene, as the 13th giraffe at the park.

“Giraffes in general are kind of like a silent extinction,” Fouts said. “Their numbers are dwindling in the wild.”

The baby is nameless for now. Fouts said a lot of people are making name suggestions on Facebook, but the keepers may name her themselves since several recent baby animals have been named by the public or in honor of people.

The last baby giraffe born in September was named Celebrity in honor of over 100 Celebrity Cruises volunteers on Give Day. The 50th giraffe born at Tanganyika was born in May. A baby sloth named Chewbacca was born earlier this month. Last December, five cheetah cubs — the first cheetahs ever born in Kansas — were named through a donor lottery.

This story was originally published December 29, 2017 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Fourth baby giraffe of year born at Tanganyika, but you can’t see her — yet."