This 13-month-old giraffe from Louisiana has a new home at the Oakland Zoo, but he doesn’t have a name yet. You can now help name the towering teen in a naming contest that runs through Monday.

It’s the month of May, the time of year when East Bay animal fans engage in their annual naming contests. Usually these contests involve naming the brood of baby falcon chicks atop the Berkeley Campanile, and indeed, that naming contest is preliminarily underway. But some 15 miles due south of the Campanile, there’s another naming contest to stretch your neck at.

“We’re thrilled to welcome a new 13-month-old male giraffe to our herd,” the Oakland Zoo announced in a Thursday Facebook post. “This 10-foot tall guy traveled in a specially-designed trailer from Audubon Nature Institute in Louisiana, and arrived safely to Oakland Zoo Tuesday night. He comes to us as part of the AZA Species Survival Program (SSP) to help ensure the sustainability of a healthy, genetically diverse giraffe population.”

And according to KTVU there is a naming contest for this young new giraffe, and the contest is already underway.

There are three name choices for this giraffe: Enzi (which means "powerful"), Nuru (which means "the light") and Kovu (which means "scar"). Each of these words is a Swahili term, paying homage to this giraffe species’ native regions of Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

The naming contest runs through Monday, May 13. You can submit your vote by commenting on the contest’s Facebook post, Twitter post, or Instagram post.

Young Mr. Yet-To-Be-Named joins five other giraffes living at the Oakland Zoo’s African Savanna area. He’s currently separated from them by a fence, but will be fully integrated with the herd when the zoo’s veterinary team feels he’s ready to stand tall alongside them.

Related: Orphaned Mountain Lion Cub Hobbled By Hypothermia, Taken In By Oakland Zoo [Joe]

Image: Oakland Zoo via Facebook

Ugh, this world. Horrible! It is hard not to feel ground down sometimes. But when you need a lift, maybe take a look at the face of the SF Zoo's newest guest, this little baby giraffe? (Go ahead, save the photo, I'll wait.)

This female giraffe calf was born in the Zoo's Bernard Osher Foundation Giraffe Barn on Friday at 9:40 a.m., the SF Zoo tells us today. Her 7-year-old mom, Barbro, is also known as the Zoo's tallest female giraffe, they said in 2014.

Her dad is Floyd, who the Zoo notes "has fathered a number of giraffes at the Zoo," including another female calf with Kristin back in 2013. (So that's how it is in that family.)

Photo: SF Zoo

Barbro is also mother to 2-year-old Sarah, the Zoo says. In total, there are currently six giraffes in the SF Zoo's herd.

Both Barbro and the calf, who has yet to be named, are doing well. "The calf stood up and took her first steps within 30 minutes of birth" the Zoo says via press release, and is "already more than six-feet tall!"

Photo: SF Zoo

"You can’t help but fall in love with this calf the moment you see her," Zoo president Tanya Peterson says...but that adoration will have to wait! The baby and her mom are currently not on public display, the Zoo says, as they need privacy to bond. They'll rejoin the full herd "in the coming days," the Zoo says, at which time your love affair with the baby can really kick into gear.

We thought this video of the SF Zoo's baby giraffe running around was pretty cute, but that was before we saw these photos of her playing with a zebra.

On Wednesday, the SF Zoo posted the above and below photos, by Sandi Wong, of their now seven week old reticulated giraffe calf frolicking with one of the Zoo's zebras. And with that, our hearts all grew three sizes today.

You can see the baby giraffe (and her friends and family) at the Zoo's Osher Family Giraffe Lodge. Pro tip: giraffe feeding is at 4:30 most days, so stop by then to watch them chow down.

The San Francisco Zoo's adorable one-month-old giraffe calf finally got a name this week. Meet: Erin. Erin the giraffe. And she's gotten a bit taller since we first met her last month, she's now a leggy (and neck-y) 6-foot-3.

The naming honors for the new girl went to an anonymous donor as a reward for a previous charitable gift. Erin is the daughter of 11-year-old giraffes Kristin and Floyd and according to the Zoo's press release on Friday, she is curious, in great health and getting along well with the the rest of the species in the Zoo's mock-African Savannah.

SFist couldn't confirm this afternoon whether she was actually named after that girl you knew from college, but like how many other Erins do you know these days?

Previously: All Adorable Things coverage on SFist.

It's gorgeous outside, what are you still doing in the office? Probably feeling cooped up, wishing you had your very own African Savanna to run around in. That's what. Here's video of our favorite (hoofed) mammal stretching her week-old legs:

And one more:

Now that the calf seems acclimated to her surroundings, our friends at the Zoo tell us she will be outdoors exploring the savanna every day. (She does, of course, still have her spot in the giraffe lodge should she get tired of all that running around.)

Previously: All baby giraffe coverage on SFist

This afternoon the San Francisco Zoo officially announced the arrival of a brand new, one-week-old giraffe calf. The calf, born to 11-year-old mother Kristin and father Floyd, entered the world early last Wednesday morning and joins Jillian the tiger cub and some recently hatched Magellanic penguins at the most adorable zoo in the country.

Animal keepers report that the new calf is a spunky female, standing 5-foot-10 and she's already getting along with the rest of the adult giraffes.

“We are very excited about this birth,” said Jim Nappi, Curator of Hoofstock and Marsupials at the San Francisco Zoo said in a press release. “Giraffes add a special majesty to our multi-species African Savanna exhibit. Their successful breeding means that our Zoo-wide Wellness Initiative is working as it should be; and when the animals are thriving, we are happy.”

Mother Kristin, who was born in Busch Gardens in Tampa. During this pregnancy the Zoo completed its first successful awake ultrasounds, which enabled animal staff to monitor the health of the fetus. Kristin has three other little ones scattered around the country. Father Floyd, also 11, was born in Albuquerque at Rio Grande Zoo.

The zoo also welcomed a teen giraffe to the herd last week: a female also from the Rio Grande Zoo in New Mexico. “Giraffes are herd animals, so these two young female giraffes will add to the dynamics of the whole group,” said Nappi. “The interactions within the group have already begun and all signs are positive that the additions will enrich all of their lives.”

For now, the mother and calf are spending some quality time together in the Osher Family Giraffe Lodge. The calf will be able to stretch her legs in a private outdoor corral until the pair is introduced into the African Savanna exhibit. We will, of course, update you when that happens. Until then, SFist is working with Zoo officials to have editor Brock Keeling lead the Pride Parade astride the new gal*.

Previously: All adorable things coverage on SFist
[SFZoo]

*Not really

"Giraffe Head" by Erik Wilson.