Milwaukee, Nov 08: It was no tall order for giraffe keeper Rich Schweitzer to check on his charges one recent morning, even though he was scheduled to work with elephants that day at the Milwaukee County Zoo. He walked over to the giraffe barn and saw an extra animal inside, lying on the ground.

"I said, 'What the heck is that?' " Schweitzer recalled.

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Shocked, he called a co-worker.

"I couldn't even talk," he said.

The colleague at first thought Schweitzer had put a stuffed animal in the enclosure as a prank.

But it was a real giraffe, born about 6 am last Friday and weighing 112 pounds. By Wednesday afternoon, the baby now named Mark weighed 122 pounds and stood 5-foot-7.

Zookeepers never knew Mark's mother, 19-year-old Malindi, one of three adult giraffes at the zoo, was pregnant through her 15 months of gestation.

"Normally, we do," Schweitzer said with a laugh.

Mark is Malindi's seventh baby, and the first giraffe born at the zoo since 1998. His father, Kio, died in August 2002 at age 8.

In about two years, he will likely be transferred to another zoo, Schweitzer said. Two calves born in 1998 were sent to the Sacramento Zoo in California.

Schweitzer said male giraffes can grow to 18 feet tall and can weigh up to 4,000 pounds.

Bureau Report