Giraffe in South Korea gives birth to 18th calf

Officials at a safari park in South Korea announced on Monday that a giraffe there has given birth to its 18th calf, what the park says is a new world record.

Officials at the Samsung Everland safari park said the mother giraffe, Jang-Soon, previously shared the record with a giraffe in Paris. Past record holders also include giraffes from Melbourne and San Diego that gave birth to 16 calves.

The park said it plans to have the record certified by the International Species Information System, a group that keeps a global database on zoo animals.

The birth on Sunday came coincidentally on Jang-Soon’s 27th birthday. The reticulated-giraffe was bred in the safari park.

The Giraffe Conservation Foundation, a U.K.-based charity dedicated to giraffe conservation, estimates that less than 5,000 reticulated-giraffes exist in the wild.

Giraffes have an average life expectancy of 25 years, although captive giraffes live longer.