Two giraffe calves born just four days apart at Mogo Wildlife Park in NSW
In short:
Two female giraffe calves were born four days apart at a NSW wildlife park.
The new calves were nearly 2 metres tall and weighed 90 kilograms at birth, which no humans were present for.
What's next?
Mogo Wildlife Park will run a competition to name the two new giraffe calves.
Two baby giraffes have been born just days apart in what a zookeeper describes as "rare" and "perfect" births.
The female calves were born at Mogo Wildlife Park on the New South Wales south coast on December 27 and 31 with no staff present.
Zookeeper Chad Staples said mothers normally showed signs such as swelling, walking differently or waxy teats indicating the birth was imminent.
"These two girls were a bit more secretive," he said.
"So it was a very pleasant surprise first thing in the morning to see a little perfect giraffe with mum."
Mr Staples said giraffes normally gave birth during the day, and it was unusual but also more natural that no humans were involved.
He said it was not uncommon for would-be mothers to sync up regarding hormones, but to have two calves born just days apart was "statistically, quite rare".
The new giraffes are already exploring their new surroundings. (ABC South East NSW: James Tugwell)
Big babies
The mothers, Oni and Tuli, who are sisters, each weighed one tonne at the end of their 16-month pregnancies.
The two babies were born weighing 90 kilograms and standing nearly 2 metres tall.
"When they first stand up, you just can't imagine that mum's been holding this huge baby,"Mr Staples said.
"It's a very big baby.
"But it's very much folded up — legs folded up, neck folded up."
The babies were born four days apart. (ABC South East NSW: James Tugwell)
Mr Staples said gravity played a major part in the delivery once the head was birthed.
"The final stages are very quick," he said.
"Bub drops to the ground with quite a thud."
The new giraffe calves fall 2.5 metres to the ground, where their mothers lick their babies clean and nudge them towards walking.
The mothers gave birth without humans present. (ABC South East NSW: James Tugwell)
Learning to walk on stilts
Within an hour, the new giraffe calves were on their feet.
"The first steps are the funniest to watch because imagine your first steps having to be on stilts,"Mr Staples said.
"It's quite comical, there's lots of stumbling and falling.
"It happens quickly because in the wild if you don't get moving quickly, you become food for something big in Africa."
The giraffe family at Mogo has grown to 11 after the latest births. (ABC South East NSW: James Tugwell)
The two young cousins now make up an 11-strong herd of giraffes at Mogo, including their mothers and grandmother.
Mr Staples said it made the calves more confident, and they were already doing "a giraffe's version of a zoomy … a crazy run around in circles."
The wildlife park will run a public competition to name the two new giraffes.