JACKSON – A new face will be seen at the Six Flags Great Adventure Resort this year: a three-month-old giraffe named Coral.
Coral was born on December 15, Six Flags staff said. They recently announced her birth and noted that they are working on reintroducing her to the herd before opening day, March 29.
Although she’s healthy now, she had a bit of a rough start. She had difficulty standing, but has overcome that issue and is now going strong.
The calf is currently housed in one of the barns dedicated to giraffes. Her father is Conan and her mother is Mariah, and they both live at Wild Safari.
According to National Geographic, giraffes give birth standing up. This means the young enter the world by falling more than 5 feet to the ground at birth. This comes from them being the world’s tallest animal, standing at a height of up to 19 feet.
Infants can usually stand in half an hour and can run just ten hours after birth. The average newborn is about 6 feet tall at birth and weighs about 150 pounds. They grow approximately 4 feet during their first year of life.
According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, only about 40% of infant giraffes in the wild make it past their first year because they are targeted by lions, leopards, hyenas, crocodiles, and wild dogs. In the absence of predators, such as in captivity, the mortality rate is near zero.
Adult giraffes can still fall prey to lions, the Foundation stated. But by then they’ve learned to defend themselves with powerful kicks.
With their height and strong vision, they become lookout towers, being alert to predators. It’s hypothesized that other herbivores gather near giraffes knowing that the giraffes will see danger before they do, National Geographic said. They are also impacted by human encroachment into wilderness areas. They are listed as a Vulnerable species, which is one step above Endangered.
The age range of giraffes is disputed. The Foundation noted that it’s generally accepted that they live up to 25 years in the wild and longer in captivity. However, there isn’t a great deal of recorded history on studying this, so the numbers aren’t as specific as researchers would like.
For more information, visit sixflags.com/wildsafari.
