Overview
- The zoo announced Tuesday that the calf is named Imara, a Swahili word the zoo translates as strong and resilient.
- Voters picked Imara from five Swahili options developed with the Kenyan Honourary Consulate in Toronto, in what the zoo called its most engaged naming poll.
- Visitors can see the calf from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day, though staff will keep her indoors until every patch of ice melts to protect her footing.
- The newborn stood about six feet four inches at birth and has grown to nearly seven feet as she bonds with her mother, Mstari, after a careful debut earlier in March.
- Zoo leaders used the moment to highlight Masai giraffe conservation, noting fewer than 35,000 remain after an estimated 50% decline in recent decades.