Happy Mother's Day to Toronto Zoo's Masai giraffe — she's pregnant

CBC News

· Posted: May 11, 2025 8:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

The Toronto Zoo is celebrating Mother's Day by preparing for a caller arrival, arsenic Mstari, an 11 twelvemonth aged Masai giraffe, is expecting a calf. 

Mstari is six months into her pregnancy, which typically lasts betwixt 13 to 16 months, and is doing good truthful far, the zoo said successful a quality merchandise Sunday. 

Based connected her erstwhile pregnancies, the zoo said it expects the commencement to hap betwixt precocious wintertime to aboriginal outpouring 2026. 

The begetter is Kiko, a 12 twelvemonth aged giraffe. Their pairing was recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Masai Giraffe Species Survival Plan, which is simply a co-operative breeding programme among accredited zoos, the quality merchandise said. 

Masai giraffes are recovered passim sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Toronto Zoo's website. They are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation and Nature. 

Fewer than 35,000 Masai giraffes past successful the wild, and the taxon has declined by much than 50 per cent successful the past 30 years, according to Sunday's quality release. Illegal hunting and situation nonaccomplishment are their superior threats.