SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – On July 9, a giraffe named Elsa was born at the Seoul Zoo. It was a meaningful birth, as it was the first giraffe birth in the eight years since Elsa’s mother Hwanhee was born.
Seoul Zoo named the giraffe Elsa after the heroine in Disney’s ‘Frozen’.
Elsa’s father is Zeus, who is 23 years old. Considering that the average life span of a giraffe is 26 years, Zeus is very old. However, he is the dominant male giraffe at Seoul Zoo.
It was a difficult birth, and Hwanhee couldn’t bear the baby on her own. A team of eight veterinarians and zookeepers had to pull Elsa for an hour before she could come into the world. However, Elsa couldn’t stand on her own even three hours after birth. Usually, baby giraffes stand on their own about 25 minutes after they are born. Veterinarians and zookeepers held Elsa so that she could try to stand up. After a day, Elsa could stand.
But that wasn’t the end. Whether Hwanhee was producing colostrum or not wasn’t clear, so zookeepers had to ask around to get the first milk to feed Elsa. Eventually, they were able to obtain colostrum from a dairy farm in Paju.
Due to the efforts of many people, Elsa is growing up healthy 77 days after birth, and is training to blend into the herd.
From September 24, visitors to the Seoul Zoo will also be able to meet Elsa.
Photo Credit: The Seoul Zoo
