It’s a tall story and getting taller

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The newest giraffe at the San Diego Zoo is less than a week old and already one of the tallest animals at the zoo: five-foot-two-inches and 145 pounds. And destined to get a lot bigger: Female Masai giraffes can top 14 feet. Males can top 18, the tallest land animals on the planet.

Abby, the female calf’s mother, was on exhibit when she gave birth Tuesday after a two-hour labor. Within an hour the calf was nursing.

Next: introduction to the rest of the giraffe herd, a slow process. Giraffe are social animals but they like to take their time getting comfortable with new arrivals.

--Tony Perry, in San Diego