Orana Park has officially welcomed the arrival of a giraffe calf born thre weeks ago.

The calf arrived just before Christmas to first-time mum Kamili.

However, staff said she did not allow the calf to feed, so in consultation with the vet team staff made the decision to transfer the youngster to Rangiora Vet Centre to establish a bottle-feeding regime in their 24-hour care clinic.

”He returned to Orana last week and has been feeding well, guzzling 6 litres per day and is already 6-foot tall.”