It was late evening, and Kipepeo, also known as Kipi, refused to settle down.

The 4-year-old reticulated giraffe was “quite restless,” said Margaret Innes, general curator at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, trotting around her house, not wanting to lie down and showing little interest in food. Keepers decided to monitor her overnight, Innes said.

At around 2 a.m., the keeper on call noticed the hooves. Kipi was in active labor.

In the early morning of March 27, Kipi welcomed a baby girl.

The zoo announced the new arrival on Monday, saying the calf weighs about 127 pounds and is approximately 6 feet tall. She doesn’t have a name yet, but the zoo will ask for the public’s input soon.

Kipi moved from Texas to Baltimore last November. She went through a standard period of quarantine before joining the Giraffe House, where she is visible to the public Fridays through Sundays from noon to 2 p.m.

No one knew Kipi was pregnant, Innes said. Keepers can’t tell if very large animals like Kipi, who was 12 feet tall when she arrived, are pregnant just by looking at them, she said. Since there was no record of Kipi having been bred with another giraffe, there was no reason to check. The breeding likely occurred when no one was observing, Innes said.

Innes said the new calf is a welcome surprise. The Maryland Zoo was already planning to grow their herd, Innes said, as their other giraffes, Kesi and Caesar, are older.

“Now we just need to let everybody know instead of having one new giraffe, we have two,” she said.

Kipi’s calf is doing very well, Innes said, and keepers are watching her closely as she becomes more mobile. They’re planning to introduce the calf to Kesi, the other female giraffe in the herd, who is around 14 years old.

Kesi has been “really interested” in the calf, Innes said. Their houses are next to each other, Innes said, and Kesi keeps peeking at the new addition.

The Giraffe House will be closed to the public to give Kipi and her daughter time to bond, but visitors can check out Caesar, the lone male giraffe, in the outdoor habitat. The Maryland Zoo is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.