Maryland Zoo welcomes new giraffe, and officials need help with her new name

BALTIMORE, Md. (7News) — Baltimore's Maryland Zoo welcomed a three-year-old female giraffe to its herd, according to zoo officials on Tuesday.

The zoo said the reticulated giraffe juvenile comes from another zoo and will join zoo residents Kesi, a female, and Ceasar, a male, inside the Giraffe House.

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She's 12 feet tall, making her the shortest of the giraffe trio, and has slightly whiter coloring around her face and a prominent median horn in the center of her head, zoo officials said.

Guest won't see her any time soon, since zoo officials have her on standard quarantine and want her to get used to her new home. Officials said the Giraffe House is closed to the public until she's ready, but guests can still see Cesar during nice weather.

“Giraffes are naturally cautious animals so we’re giving our new female plenty of time to get acclimated,” said Erin Cantwell Grimm, Mammal Curator at the Maryland Zoo, in a statement. “She’s already been introduced to our older female, Kesi, who is a calming influence and we’re pleased with how well she’s doing.”

In the meantime, the new giraffe needs a name, and Zoo officials said anyone who donates $100 or more to the Zoo will be entered for the chance to name her. The money will go towards animal care and wildlife conservation programs.

The young giraffe's trip to the zoo was joined by two gazelles who are also in quarantine behind the scenes before joining the rest of the Zoo's gazelle herd.