Arrival Of Baby Giraffe Shocks Zoo

JSOnline: Baby giraffe's unforeseen arrival shocks county zookeepers

Giraffe keeper Rich Schweitzer wasn't expecting a trick or a treat when he arrived for work at the Milwaukee County Zoo the morning of Halloween, but he got a little of both.

Though he was scheduled to work with elephants Friday, he walked over to the giraffe barn to check on his normal charges. He found an extra animal inside - a baby reticulated giraffe was lying on the ground.

The giraffes are kept on birth control, but what was even more surprising about Mark's arrival was that zookeepers never detected the pregnancy during 15 months of gestation.

"Normally, we do (detect animals' pregnancies)," Schweitzer said with a laugh.