The Virginia Zoo is excited to announce the birth of a Masai giraffe calf on Sunday, June 4. The female giraffe calf was born to five-time mother Imara and father Billy. At birth, the calf weighed in at 149 pounds and measured in at 5 feet, 11 inches tall. Imara was in labor for two hours on Sunday and gave birth while Zoo visitors watched from the observation windows in Africa - Okavango Delta exhibit. Giraffes give birth standing up, so newborns get an abrupt introduction to the world by dropping up to 6 feet to the ground. The calf could stand and walk within the first few hours after birth.