Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Giraffe

This is one of the Giraffes at the Calgary Zoo, but I'm not sure just which one. I'm using the image to go with the sad news from yesterday from CBCNews Calgary. "The Calgary Zoo euthanized its 22-year-old giraffe Thursday, ending the animal’s long battle with degenerative arthritis. Mardi, a reticulated giraffe, had been getting medication and acupuncture to reduce inflammation and make it more comfortable for some time, zoo officials said. “It is always very sad to say good-bye to an old friend and Mardi was just that to so many of us here at the zoo,” said Mona Keith, lead zookeeper in the African Savannah area. However, just as we know when the time has come for our own aging pets, we knew that it was Mardi’s time.” Mardi was born at the Audubon zoo in New Orleans on Feb. 27, 1990 — during Mardi Gras, hence her name. She came to the Calgary Zoo in 1991 where she had three calves: Kelsey, Richard and Sophie. The average life expectancy of a giraffe is 20 to 25 years, the zoo said. The zoo has one remaining 18-year-old female reticulated giraffe, Carrie. Officials are working with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan to bring one more to join her. There have been 17 giraffes born at the Calgary Zoo as part of a species survival plan for reticulated giraffes, officials said." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012/03/01/calgary-g... Ahhh ... about 6:45 p.m. and I now see what some of the "fuss" has been about. The new Contacts page has finally reached me, ha.

This handsome baby boy Giraffe, born in February 2011 at the Calgary Zoo, already stands almost two metres tall and weighs almost 85 kilograms. Apparently, he is the largest giraffe ever born at the zoo. I had the chance to see him three days ago - such a cutie. OK, cover your ears, I'm going to swear out loud!! S*@#!!!!! You got it - I said SNOW! Yes, it's SNOWing here again, lol!!! As if the huge winter snow storm on Saturday wasn't enough, leaving us with 10+ inches. This time of the year is always like a roller-coaster ride, with the ground clearing and then it snows, then it clears or almost clears and back comes the snow and our hopes of no more snow are dashed. This winter has been particularly brutal with its deep freezes and the amount of snow and the fact that the snow stayed on the ground for what - six months? Hopefully, this new snowfall will be gone quickly.

This is one of the adult Giraffes at the Calgary Zoo. In a separate area, I could see the recent additon to this Giraffe family, a beautiful "little" daughter born to Mom, Carrie, on 29th July 2008. Zoo officials say that "Giraffes are not considered endangered but have been identified as a species whose population is in decline due to hunting".

Young Richard and presumably his mother at the Calgary Zoo. I watched such a beautiful display of affection among two adults and this young man - very nice to see. Richard's mother is named Mardi; she gave birth to him on November 15, 2006 at 2:25 am. Richard is the 14th giraffe born at the Calgary Zoo.

Let me introduce you to baby Richard, a fairly new arrival at the Calgary Zoo. That's Mom in the background. Looks like he might be having a few teething problems, LOL!