THE zoo has a new arrival – a healthy baby female giraffe? born to mum, Mzungu and dad, Shaba.

“It had been a long wait for keepers and staff as it was a 15-month long pregnancy, but we are so excited that? she is finally here,” says senior wildlife keeper,?Sophie Dentrinos.

“She has started to venture out into her enclosure ?with mum and is getting used to her surroundings.? She’s very inquisitive and has been licking? everything she can.”

Shaba and Mzungu both ?arrived at the zoo in 2015 and ?Mzungu fell pregnant with older sister, Kebibi within ?just two months.

The addition of the calf brings the total number of giraffes at the National Zoo & Aquarium to four.

The zoo will hold a naming competition at the giraffe family enclosure during the ?ACT school holidays, starting this weekend with a winner being chosen by zoo staff on July 22.

The National Zoo & Aquarium is a part of the ?accredited international breeding program for ?giraffes and says this birth will benefit the ?continuation of their species.

They say that over the last 30 years it’s estimated that the total population of giraffes has plummeted by 40 per cent due to habitat ?loss and human destruction. With only about 111,000 giraffes remaining in the wild, the species as? a whole is now categorised as endangered.