WATCH LIVE: Giraffe ready to give birth at Dallas Zoo

DALLAS — Animal Planet and the Dallas Zoo are providing live coverage as Katie the giraffe prepares to give birth at the facility's Giants of the Savanna habitat.

The cable network has installed eight cameras in the maternity stall, and is offering live coverage online.

According to Giraffe Conservation Foundation, the average gestation period for a giraffe is about 15 months. Giraffes give birth standing up, so a newborn calf falls about 5 or 6 feet to the ground. A newborn will stand and run within a hour of birth, according to the GCF website.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature places the future of the species in its "least concern" category. The giraffe, which lives in arid and dry-savanna zones of sub-Saharan Africa, have seen its range shrink because of increasing human populations in West Africa, according to the IUCN website.

On Oct. 14, 2014, the Dallas Zoo announced the birth of a healthy male calf. The baby born to mom Crystal brought the zoo herd to a dozen, with five females and seven males.

Contributing: The Associated Press