Newborn giraffe Savanna makes debut at White Post Farms

It’s a girl! She was born 142 pounds and 5 feet, 4 inches tall in August and has already grown a foot.

White Post Farms in Melville announced the birth Saturday, saying the baby is the first giraffe to be born on Long Island.

The facility held off making the announcement until a new enclosure for the giraffes opened Saturday, said Susan Dorsey, White Post's social media manager. "The Giraffe Experience" has a heated floor for the animals, and visitors can see them outdoors and when they go indoors, she said.

Also, the facility wanted to provide time for the giraffe family to adjust to the birth, she said.

"Mommy and baby are doing their thing," she said. "Patches has been an amazing mother."

Baby Savanna came into this world early in the morning on Aug. 13, Dorsey said. The proud parents are Patches and Oliver, both of whom live at the farm.

Patches arrived at the farm March 2016 at 6 months old with her companion, an alpaca named Sunny. Oliver was brought to the farm at 1 week old in 2018 after being rejected by his mother and was bottle-fed by the White Post Farms staff for six months and then introduced to Patches.

"Clearly it was love at first sight," Dorsey said.

"The Giraffe Experience" is now home to mommy, daddy and the new baby, and its opening to farm guests Saturday coincided with the first day of the annual Fall Farm Festival.

Guests will be able to view baby Savanna and feed the parents at "The Giraffe Experience" year-round, Dorsey said.

"Mommy is taking care of the baby's food needs right now," she said.

"The Giraffe Experience" is open in the fall seven days a week. It is included with the Animal Farm admission fee on weekdays and the Fall Festival admission on weekends.

By Craig Schneider

craig.schneider@newsday.comScraigo

Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.