Overview
- Ivy, a Masai giraffe calf, was seen by invited reporters and is now visible to guests on Kilimanjaro Safaris after her first public steps on the savanna on Thursday.
- She was born backstage in April to a mother named Willow, weighed about 120 pounds at birth and stood nearly six feet tall as a newborn.
- Animal Kingdom staff moved Ivy to the public habitat only after she showed key bonding behavior called shifting, trained her mother to guide her, and used temporary burlap boundaries while she began nibbling grain and foliage but continued nursing.
- Disney’s conservation team says Ivy contributes to managed breeding that helps Masai giraffe genetic diversity for a species the IUCN lists as endangered with roughly 30,000 animals left in the wild.
- Keepers say Ivy is shy and remains close to Willow, they will keep monitoring her health and behavior, and guests hoping to spot her are advised to look near trees where the herd feeds.