Yesterday, I went to the San Diego Zoo, and, unexpectedly, I stumbled upon a giraffe giving birth. Of course, there was a massive crowd of people watching this event and even the fellow giraffes on the other side of the fence were watching. I tried to capture some photographs of the process, but I was facing many challenges. I’m not the tallest person, so I had to battle with the people in front of me, and I was left with a tiny spot where I had to shoot through a bush and a sign obstructing my view. It was quite challenging and made more difficult by the harsh midday light. BUT, I pushed on anyway. 

A baby giraffe is really a giant! It weighed about 150 lbs and stood six feet tall when it was born. When it dropped out of its mother’s womb, it fell almost 5 feet. What a harsh awakening to life! This was then followed by the calf’s repeated attempts to stand up as quickly as possible in response to its natural instinct to be able to run and survive possible predator attacks in the wild. As I watched this evolution, I really felt for the little one - its long legs were all tangled up and its mother tried to help out by guiding it to a wall and use her legs to give a push. The little one had many unsuccessful attempts, but it didn't give up. Eventually, it was able to stand up. This photo is the very first time the giraffe was able to stand upright, and its mom had just trotted away. What an inspiration!