Giraffe born at Cincinnati Zoo

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CINCINNATI, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- A giraffe at the Cincinnati Zoo gave birth to a healthy, 150-pound female calf, zoo officials said.

Tessa, a 5-year-old Maasai giraffe, gave birth to the calf in her indoor stall Friday morning, the zoo officials said in a release.

"The zoo is buzzing with excitement and incredibly, so is the community," said Thane Maynard, the zoo's executive director. "We made the decision several weeks ago to live-tweet the birth in real-time and the response has been astonishing. The #giraffebirth tweets spread like wildfire, making this, the first birth to be live-tweeted, an overwhelming success. And, we saw people heavily invested in the birth of this amazing, new baby. Most importantly, the calf is doing well, and she and mom are bonding."

Tessa, the newborn's father, Kimba, and the baby are doing well and bonding in a private area, the release said.

Visitors to the zoo will be able to view the newborn beginning Monday.