THEY may be Marwell Zoo's newest spring babies but these two little giraffes have already made friends in high places - and not just their mums.

The park's tallest keepers have been needed to help feed these giant babies, which at 6ft are already on their way to becoming the world's tallest land mammals.

The two arrivals mean the Winchester-based zoo now has the largest herd of giraffes in Britain at 13 and comes as the park celebrates the 30th anniversary of the death of possibly the UK's most famous ever giraffe.

Victor the giraffe did the splits in 1977, some reports claimed while trying to mate, but was unable to get back up.

After frantic efforts by staff at the park, and indeed the Royal Navy who brought in a specially-made sling to lift the giant animal back to his feet, Victor was eventually raised back on to all fours.

Tragically he died just a few days later from heart failure, but his plight was a double-edged sword for Marwell as the international publicity Victor's slip brought the park put it firmly on the UK tourist map.

These two latest arrivals, though, will have a lot of growing to do if they are to reach the heady heights Victor got to at over five metres tall.

The two babies, both males, were born on March 8 and March 22 to mums Grace and Biffa respectively and can grow at up to an inch a day.

Sadly Grace didn't take to her baby at first, so the calf was initially hand-fed by Marwell's keepers before Biffa took over as surrogate mum following the birth of her calf two weeks later.

Marwell has now also launched a competition to name the two giraffes, being run on its website at www.marwell.org.uk.

Marwell always names its male giraffes after African kings or rulers, with the names this time including: Askia - King of Songhay; Idris - Ruler of Bornu; Kharma - The Good King; Khufu - The Father of Pyramid building; and Samory - the King of Sudan.