Barbara V Evers

"He's up, he's up!"  The cry rang out from voices young and old, shrill and deep.  Pandemonium reigned.  School children who had wandered away to see the tortoises, raced back up the ramp, adding their squeals to the noise.  It was deafening. I climbed up on a bench and tried to stay out of the way.  It wasn't easy.  Children climbed up beside me and jostled each other trying to see.  Kiko creates chaos by waking. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Copy . What caused this chaos?  Four-day-old Kiko, the new baby giraffe at The Greenville Zoo, was awake and walking toward his mother, Autumn. Before you fault me for taking the high ground with children around, I selected a bench on the back side of the viewing area, not one of the benches closest to the giraffes.  Considering the number of people streaming back into the area, I was safer there than down in the crowd.     Autumn checks on sleeping Kiko All Rights Reserv...

A Mother's Love It happened.  Over a million people all over the world watched and chatted on Facebook and Twitter about the birth of The Greenville Zoo's newest giraffe just before midnight on October 22.  I almost missed it because of a crazy schedule.  Unlike previous days, I didn't come home and immediately pull up the Earthcam feed to keep watch.  Thank goodness, the 11 o'clock news alerted viewers that Autumn was in labor! About an hour later, the new calf dropped to the ground in a messy looking splat.  Then the serious conversations on Facebook began.  We had been told giraffe calves walk soon after birth, but time ticked by with little to no movement while Autumn paced and nosed at the calf.  Finally, the calf moved, and moved a little more.  A little under an hour after his birth, he attempted to stand. Of course, we didn't know he was male then.  That news came out this afternoon, along with his name, Kiko, which means Autu...

If you know me, you probably know I'm crazy about giraffes.  I love to watch them, study them, talk about them, and write about them.  That's why I couldn't contain my excitement when I learned that Autumn, the female giraffe at The Greenville Zoo, is pregnant.  Giraffes gestate for fifteen months, and Autumn's delivery should be any day now. Autumn, sleeping in barn Many of Autumn's fans remain on giraffe baby watch.  The Greenville Zoo set up cameras through EarthCam.com.  You can watch Autumn in  the paddock or in the barn .  I can't stop watching!  I don't want to miss this birth.  Odds are, unfortunately, that I will miss it since I have other commitments, but I have the EarthCam app loaded on my iPad and iPhone. For the first time yesterday, the zoo started running the cameras 24/7.  I sat up last night until I couldn't keep my eyes open watching her pace and eat.  Even my training students over the last two days wa...