Chester Zoo 's one-month-old Rothschild giraffe has been taking his first steps in the open air.
Youngster Murchison needed some encouragement from his mum Tula to get out of the door.
But the calf was able to join the rest of the herd and looked to be enjoying himself.
All under his mum's watchful eye of course.
Chester Zoo giraffe team assistant manager Fiona Howe said Tula was taking motherhood 'in her stride'.
She said: “It’s great to see the reactions of people when they see Murchison strutting his stuff for the very first time.
Hopefully that excitement will lead to them wanting to learn more about these gentle giants. They are facing a silent extinction in their native habitat and there needs to be much more awareness of this.
“If the high levels of poaching and habitat loss continue as they are, it is entirely possible that giraffes could become extinct in the wild in a generation.
"And once they’re gone, they’re gone for good. We must do all we can to ensure this doesn’t ever happen.”
Murchison was named after Murchison Falls in Uganda, which is home to the largest remaining population of Rothschild's giraffes.
Conservationists estimate there to be only 1,600 Rothschild’s giraffes left across Africa – making them one of the world’s rarest and most at risk species – as poaching and habitat loss continue to push the species to the very edge of existence.
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