Submitted Photo A giraffe calf was born this week to adult giraffes Kianga and Mashama at Roosevelt Park Zoo.

The Roosevelt Park Zoo family has grown by six feet.

A healthy giraffe calf was born Wednesday to parents Kianga and Mashama. It’s the ninth calf born to the pair.

During a well-baby exam Friday morning, the calf weighed 127 pounds and is about 6 feet tall. The gender of the calf is known and will be announced on Monday.

Visitors can help the zoo celebrate the giraffe calf’s birth with a baby shower. The zoo is open today and Sunday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. In-person and online the zoo will be raising money to be invested in enrichment items for the new calf. Money will also be raised in a one-item auction: a gender-reveal painting by the male giraffe Mashama.

As an added human element to the celebration, visitors can bring a package of diapers and get admission to the zoo for the day at the reduced winter rate. The diaper collection will support the Community Leadership Institute. A previous CLI class supported the zoo’s enrichment program.

Roosevelt Park Zoo is a steering committee member of Giraffe SAFE, a Saving Animals From Extinction conservation program by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. According to SAFE, there are fewer than 100,000 of the endangered giraffe remaining throughout Africa. The giraffe population is declining due to habitat loss, human population growth and poaching. AZA-accredited zoos and their partners are working collectively through education, scientific research, field work, public awareness and action. Roosevelt Park Zoo has raised more than $50,000 for giraffe conservation. This has been made possible with the help of this community and zoo patrons who have participated in the zoo’s giraffe experience over the past 10 years since the Giraffe Feeding Station was built.