A 3-week-old, female giraffe calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park has been given the name Mawe (pronounced “maw way”), meaning stone in Swahili. She was born to first-time mom Saba; and at birth, she weighed a little under 150 pounds and stood approximately 5 feet, 10 inches tall. Mawe has been introduced to the other members of the herd, and both mom and baby are doing well. Science teams have estimated that fewer than 100,000 giraffes are left in their native habitats—a decrease of more than 40 percent over the last 20 years. It is believed that the downward trend is due to habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and poaching in certain regions.
Photo by San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
