Baby giraffe greets visitors at US zoo

In this Sept. 23, 2012 photo provided by Utah's Hogle Zoo, mother giraffe Kipenzi licks her baby girl shortly after birth. The new baby giraffe and her mother went on display at Utah's Hogle Zoo for the first time on Oct. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Utah's Hogle Zoo)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Hogle Zoo in the U.S. state of Utah has a new resident: a baby giraffe.

The zoo says the 6-foot (2-meter) giraffe was born Sept. 23, and mom and baby girl are doing great. They spent the past week bonding and were displayed to the public in the giraffe yard for the first time Wednesday.

Hogle Zoo has displayed giraffes since 1969 and has had 16 successful giraffe births.

The baby giraffe's mother is 9-year-old Kipenzi, who also gave birth in 2010 to Jamar, a baby giraffe that later died. The new baby's father, Riley, was sent to the Oregon Zoo a few months ago due to limited space while construction begins on the zoo's African Savanna.

Riley will return to Hogle Zoo upon completion of that exhibit in 2014.

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