KEEPERS at Dubbo's Taronga Western Plains Zoo are seeing double after the birth of a second giraffe calf recently.
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It followed the birth of Layla in July.
The new male calf has been named Losiligi by his keepers, which means "to have hope in a time of crisis or when things are bad" in Maasai.
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"We are really happy with the maternal behaviours we are observing from Zane. She is a very caring and protective mother," giraffe keeper Bobby-Jo Vial said.
"The calf will spend most of the day by mum's side until towards the afternoon when Zane will place the calf in the grass by the fence so she can go and eat."
The two giraffe calves are now starting to interact with each other and are being seen together more regularly.
"Over the coming weeks we will start to see the two calves interacting more and more together and hopefully becoming quite playful with each other," Ms Vial said.
Layla is a few months older, and was given her name (Swahili for "overnight") by keepers in honour of the time of her arrival.
Keepers say those wanting to see the giraffe calves in person should visit the zoo in the mornings, when the calves are generally more active.
The zoo now has 12 giraffe in the main breeding herd and another seven giraffe in the bachelor herd on the African Savannah.
Keepers say the gestation period for a giraffe is 14 to 16 months.