FOTA Wildlife Park in Cork have just unveiled their latest arrivals, the yet to be named, 5ft tall male and female giraffes born at the end of January.
The first born was the female calf on January 25 to mother, Bláithín and father, Walder.Two days later, a male calf was born to mother, Sapphire and father Tadhg.
They now become the youngest of a herd of Rothschild giraffe at Fota, which are one of nine races of giraffe found in Africa.
To celebrate the births Fota Wildlife Park has set up a competition inviting the public and schools to come up with an Irish name for the calves, which has become a tradition
The competition to name the giraffe calves is open to everyone via the education section on Fotawildlife.ie. The winning name suggestion by a class will result in a class tour behind the scenes at the park, including some of the giraffes inside their house.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.