Cincinnati Zoo's new baby girl giraffe needs a name

Got a name suggestion? The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is collecting ideas for its newborn giraffethrough Tuesday on its Facebook page. On Thursday, the zoo will announce the final four for a public vote.

A female calf was born early Monday morning at the zoo to a 7-year-old giraffe named Tessa after more than five hours of labor. It is Tessa's third calf in three years. Officials said the newborn, weighing about 125 pounds, appears healthy.

"It never gets old. It's always exciting," said Mike Dulaney, the zoo's curator of mammals, who witnessed the birth. "Whenever a new life comes into the world like that, especially one that's 6 feet tall, it's pretty impressive."

The zoo wasn't quite sure of a due date because it was unclear when Tessa and her mate, Kimba, had bred successfully, Dulaney said. The gestation period is 15 months.

Like all giraffes, Tessa gave birth standing up, with the newborn falling five to six feet to the ground.

For a few moments, the calf lay still. "You're holding your breath waiting to make sure the animal is alive," Dulaney said. "Then the eyes start blinking, and you can see it breathing … and you take your own deep breath."

Within a few minutes of the birth, the calf was trying to get on its feet. She was standing before 7 a.m.

Tessa gave birth to Lulu in October 2012 and to Zuri in April 2011, but Zuri broke her leg in an indoor stall at 7 weeks and had to be euthanized.

Lulu will soon join a new giraffe family at the Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio. The move was recommended by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Population Management Center in order to maintain genetic diversity among captive giraffes.

The birth of a female is welcome news for breeding purposes, since a single male can mate with a group of females to produce many young. It has not been permitted to import giraffes into the U.S. since 1984.

Last year 47 giraffes were born in North American zoos, according to Laurie Bingaman Lackey, who manages the giraffe population for the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.

Tessa arrived in Cincinnati from the Houston Zoo in 2008, the same year her mating partner, Kimba, came from the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, R.I. They are helping carry on a long tradition: Cincinnati was the first zoo to have a giraffe born in captivity, in 1889.