A rare Rothschild giraffe born in a Greenwich conservation center captured widespread attention and the public has decided to name her in honor of Sandy Hook.
The LEO Zoological Conservation Center held a naming contest for the calf, which was the first born at the off-exhibit conservation center.
After 6,000 and 7,000 entries, the giraffe's name is Sandy Hope, in remembrance of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of 20 students and six staff members.
Victoria Frunzi, of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, chose the winning name, according to the zoo's Web site, and it was announced of the Today Show on Monday morning.
Sandy Hope, was nearly 6-feet-tall when she was born.
When fully grown, the newborn, who will live with a group of five giraffes including two pregnant giraffes, could reach 18 feet in height.
According to The Greenwich Times, Petal, a 6-year-old giraffe gave birth to the female calf.
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Rothschild giraffes were named and described by Lord Walter Rothschild, a British zoologist, after an expedition to East Africa in the early 1900s.
