Meet Tucker, a 6-foot-tall baby Masai giraffe born at Disney World's Animal Kingdom
Disney World has been the site of another magical moment: the birth of a baby Masai giraffe.
Mother giraffe Mara welcomed her newest calf, named Tucker, at the Animal Kingdom Theme Park in Bay Lake, Florida, on Monday according to Disney. It's Disney World's first giraffe birth since 2021.
Since making her grand entrance in 2015, Mara has given birth three separate times, park officials confirmed. The Masai giraffe first became a mother in 2019 when she welcomed Jabari and has expanded her family at the park's Kilimanjaro Safaris savanna ever since.
"Tucker's birth is very important for us," said Mark Penning, Disney's vice president of Animals, Science and Environment, said in a video shared by the company. "It's testament to Disney's leadership in animal care and conservation. This plan focuses on maintaining genetic diversity of the giraffe population and helping prevent giraffes from becoming extinct."
How tall is Tucker?
Tucker is 6 feet tall, the average height of newborn calves after birth.
Disney park animal care manager Jenn Hernandez said is Mara's third child and is one of eight giraffes at the theme park, local station WESH-TV reported.
"We’re really excited to see him have all his firsts, he’s out for the first time, he's meeting new animals for the first time he’s meeting his aunties the first time," Hernandez told the station. "It's kind of an exciting day so it’s all hands on deck."
Masai giraffe are considered endangered species
Masai giraffe are classified as endangered species as there are only around 30,000 left in the world, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
There are total of four giraffe species including northern, reticulated and southern, with only around 117,000 existing in the wild, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation in Namibia reports.
While honoring Tucker's birth, Disney highlighted its Disney Conservation Fund's 30th anniversary of supporting community conservation programs that "protect wildlife, inspire action, and promote environmental resilience."