The Mile High City is celebrating a natural conservation milestone --- the birth of the first gerenuk, or long-necked African antelope, at the city's zoo.
Denver Zoo announced the birth of Blossom, a female gerenuk calf born March 6 to mother Layla and father Woody. The new arrival represents the third generation of her family currently residing in the zoo's gerenuk exhibit.
Layla was born at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Bay Lake, Florida in October 2008 and arrived to Denver Zoo with her mother, Sushaunna, in July 2012. Woody was born at the Los Angeles Zoo in March 2006 and arrived in Denver during May 2007.
Layla and Woody were paired under recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan, which ensures healthy populations and genetic diversity among zoo animals. The two proved a good match.
Zoo officials report Blossom has just begun venturing out into her open yard and has been seen playfully running and jumping around --- to the delight of park visitors.
The word "gerenuk" means "giraffe-necked" in Somali. The small species of antelope weighs between 60 to 100 pounds and can stand about three and a half feet tall at the shoulder, in addition to long, thin necks.
Gerenuks have hips and pelvises that give them the unique ability to stand up completely vertical on their hind legs --- thereby almost doubling their height as they browse for high leaves and twigs.
The creatures typically live in the bushlands and thickets of eastern Africa.
With a population of about 95,000 gerenuk living in the wild, the species has been classified as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, because of habitat loss and fragmentation.
Denver Zoo is also working with private nature conservancies and group tribal ranches to protect land for gerenuks and other species in Kenya. This includes providing education outreach to understand wildlife populations and the best way to manage their habitats.