Little wonder: giraffe a rarity among giants

AT the moment she’s a “pint-sized” 5ft tall, but soon things will be looking up for Margaret the giraffe.

The female rothschild giraffe was born prematurely at Chester Zoo after mother, Fay, went into labour two weeks early.

But mother and daughter are doing just fine and, thanks to hand-rearing by her keepers, 10-day-old Margaret is tipping the scales at just over 34kg.

Tim Rowlands, team leader of the giraffes’ section, said: “Margaret is one of the smallest giraffe calves we have ever seen.

“Fay isn’t the largest of giraffes and Margaret was also early which might go some way to explaining her size.

“Margaret was having difficulty suckling so our keeping team are now hand-rearing her and she is going from strength so strength.

“We have a good track record when it comes to breeding giraffes and we are delighted to welcome another to the fold.”

The birth of Margaret — who is named after Mr Rowlands’ mum — has been welcomed as there are only 600 rothschild giraffes left in the wild, where they roam the lowlands of Kenya and Uganda.