There’s a New Baby at Peoria Zoo Who Weighs 122 Pounds

It's always exciting when a new member of the family is born, but not many of us expect to see a newborn who's almost 6 feet tall and weighs in at 122 pounds. Then again, most of us aren't giraffes.

When you consider it, the applause should be for the newborn giraffe's mom, Vivian. After all, Vivian was the one who just finished a 465 day gestation period. Doing the math, that works out to: 15 Months, 1 Week, 1 Day, 9 Hours and 40 Minutes. Our daughter was 11 days overdue, but it was still within the usual human 9-month gestation period--although it probably seemed like 15 months to my wife.

From The Daily Herald:

Vivian gave birth at 2:38 a.m. Sunday. Zoo director Yvonne Strode says mom and baby are doing well but need time to heal and grow before being ready for visitors. She says that should be within two to four weeks. The zoo plans on sharing pictures and a live video feed online of the mother and baby. The newborn doesn't have a name yet. Strode says the zoo is still determining how they will name the giraffe, whether a poll, contest or another way.

The Peoria Zoo hasn't released an official video of this baby giraffe's birth, but they did release one when a baby giraffe was born there in July of 2016: