Endangered giraffe gives birth at Connecticut conservation center

Published March 24, 2013

Associated Press

GREENWICH, Conn. –  A rare, nearly 6-foot-tall giraffe listed as an endangered subspecies has been born in a Connecticut conservation center.

The Greenwich Time reports (http://bit.ly/ZJI63V ) that Petal, a 6-year-old Rothschild giraffe gave birth on Friday to female calf as a group of other giraffes and staff at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center watched.

Marcella Leone, founder and director of the center, said the young animal is curious, approaching humans early on in its first days of life.

When fully grown, the newborn, who will mingle with a group of five giraffes, which includes two pregnant giraffes, could reach 18 feet in height.

The calf is the first born at the off-exhibit conservation center.

Rothschild giraffes were named and described by Lord Walter Rothschild, a British zoologist, after an expedition to East Africa in the early 1900s.

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2 missing boys, grandmother found dead in Connecticut

PRESTON, Conn. –  A Connecticut woman and her two young grandchildren were found dead Tuesday night, hours after she allegedly took the boys from their daycare, authorities said.

State police say Ashton and Alton Perry and their grandmother, 47-year-old Debra Denison, were found dead Tuesday night in a parked vehicle in Preston.

Authorities say Denison had picked up 6-month-old Ashton and 2-year-old Alton from their daycare in Danielson at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and could not be located.

State police then issued an Amber Alert.

CTNow.com reports that at about 9:30 p.m., police received a report of a suspicious vehicle parked near Lake of Isles with three injured people inside, two of whom appeared to be children.

The two boys and their grandmother were pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy will be performed to determine the manner and cause of death.

State police continue to investigate.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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