Where is SC’s newest baby giraffe? Zoo still waiting, as thousands watch for birth

In case you were wondering about Autumn, the expectant giraffe at the Greenville Zoo, well, she is still pregnant.

Zoo officials said last fall they anticipated the calf would be born around the first of December. That day passed. Then another month, and now into another.

“Honestly, it is any day,” said James Travers, zoo curator.

He said the “event” zookeepers saw, referring to the calf’s conception, was apparently not the only “event” Autumn engaged in. That could have thrown off zookeepers’ estimation of when the calf would be born.

So here Autumn is, growing larger every day, as people watch on Earthcam. On Monday morning, she was seen lying down lazily, munching some feed. When the enclosure door opened, she and her mate, Miles, and their almost 2-year-old calf, Kellan, went out to the paddock.

The Earthcam link has been accessed nearly 14 million times.

A giraffe’s gestation period is 15-16 months, so people have been waiting quite a while to see the birth of Autumn’s sixth calf.

Travers said the zoo expects Autumn to deliver the calf this week. Signs birth is imminent are the calf has dropped into the birth canal and Autumn’s mammary glands have filled with milk.

Asked about an event at the Nashville Zoo where a baby giraffe was killed by its mother, Travers said the Greenville Zoo is not taking any extra precautions because Autumn has done well with her previous offspring.

In Nashville, mother Nasha stepped on her baby shortly after giving birth in January.

“The calf appeared to be thriving on an initial exam,” Dr. Heather Schwartz, Nashville Zoo’s director of veterinary medicine said on the zoo website. “We moved the newborn to be with her mother and the two were bonding. During this time, Nasha may have inadvertently injured her calf. The giraffe keepers noticed that the calf was in distress.

The initial necropsy showed trauma in the calf’s neck.

“We feel confident in Autumn’s ability,” Travers said.

This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 2:21 PM.