A New Baby Giraffe Arrives At Australia Zoo! _ Crikey! It's The Irwins

We've just gotten word that Rosie's gone into labour, so now we really start biting our fingernails. We are just on our way, about to head around the corner on the perimeter track. Good girl. It's alright, mate. Good girl, Rosie. So currently we have Rosie in giving birth. We also have Forrest moving around as well. He has access to outside and inside, so she's got a little bit of company. We've got two of us in there, one person working the camera, one person making sure that everything else is happening to plan. And it's super exciting. So we actually noticed this bubble that was coming out of her back end, and it was actually the mucus plug coming out. So that means that birth is going to be imminent. It's actually progressing quite quickly. We've had a birth that's lasted quite a few hours in the past, but hers seems to be quite rapid. So if the giraffe cuff is in a normal position within the uterus, the two forelegs will appear first, closely followed by the muzzle and the head. Rosie's looking a little bit uncomfortable. She's arching her back and looking at her rear end. That's purely because her uterus is contracting inside, and she's a little bit uncomfortable. So she's watching to see what's happening, and she's feeling some discomfort around her abdomen because of that. But she's been through this before, so she's pretty used to what's happening. It's all right. The stages of labour for Rosie and for any giraffe are pretty much the same as for any other animal. So first of all, the water will break, and then the fluid will be expelled from around the sac, which encloses the fetus, and then the baby comes out. Good girl, Rosie. It's all right. Giraffe birth is pretty dramatic. The newborn falls from quite a height and hits the ground quite heavily. So there is a little bit of a risk of injury, but it's all up to the gods the way the calf falls out. But certainly a little bit of an anxious moment. Cat, cat, it's happening. Oh my God, not at the right angle. Good girl. It's all right. Dropping about seven feet to the ground for a new baby animal is a little bit terrifying. And then making sure that the baby's breathing OK and there's no problems or complications. Every step of the way, you're kind of a little bit nervous. So, so happy. The entire zoo has a buzz floating around because this beautiful giraffe has officially been born. We have been waiting 15 months for this moment, so we're pretty excited. The first hour of a giraffe's life is extremely important. In the wild, there's a lot of animals that might think a baby giraffe is quite delicious. So little giraffes need to learn to stand and stick really close by their mothers. You do feel a little bit helpless because they kind of fall and crumple to the ground. Good baby. It's all right. Good girl. Good girl, Rosie. Once we see walking, we can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief, but we want to make sure that the calf is actually suckling because we need to make sure that they get the colostrum, which is the first drink of milk. It means that they're going to have all those antibodies they need and obviously it's essential to time that as well to making sure that they get a full quantity. Hey, hey, hey. There's some milk there. So in the next couple of minutes, we're going to be able to see if little one has a drink. Mum's actually pushing her in the right direction as well, but she's quite wobbly on her legs there and we can actually see four little teats so we know that she's a little girl. Go, go, go. It's going to do it. No. Oh, yes, she's on. Yep, she's on. She's actually drinking from all four teats, knowing exactly where to go now. She's reaching all these milestones really quickly. It's actually within an hour after being born, she's already standing walking and has had that first suckle. Big girl. You're beautiful. We generally don't intervene at all until something is necessary for us to intervene. We actually don't go in with calf at all. We let Rosie have her time with the calf. Even now, once birth has happened, we'll just leave them be for a couple of days and get them nice and acquainted with each other. Good girl, Penny. So the rest of our herd are on their way in to our off-display enclosure. They're going to see the new little calf for the first time. Good girl, Sally. There is going to be a fence in between them, but they are going to have visual contact. Good girl, Sky. Rosie is probably the most attentive mother of any giraffe on planet Earth. She is the best mom she should get an award. She couldn't have had a better birth. We're so proud of her.