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Posts in category Giraffe News

New Baby Giraffes for Zoo Atlanta and The Vienna Zoo

Jul28
2011 Written by admin

Zoo Atlanta's newest and tallest youngster

Zoo Atlanta welcomed a new addition to their giraffe family last Friday, July 22nd 2011, which was only the second surviving giraffe calf born in the zoo’s 122 year history.

The newborn female calf, who is so far unnamed, is the first for mother, Mona.  However the calf’s father, Abu, is also the father of the zoo’s first giraffe calf, Zuri, who was born almost exactly a year earlier on July 13, 2010.

“We’re delighted about the birth of Mona’s calf,” said Rebecca Snyder, curator of mammals at Zoo Atlanta. “Giraffes are among the most popular animals in our collection, and they’re a stunning representation of the beauty and diversity of African wildlife. We’re excited about watching this little one grow, not just in feet, but in milestones.”

And at 6 feet (1.8 metres) tall and weighing in at around 125 pounds (56 kilograms), Zoo Atlanta’s baby still has lots of growing to do with female giraffes typically reaching a height of around 16 feet (4.8 metres).

For now, the zoo’s newest giraffe is bonding with its mother, and the zoo has yet to make an announcement when the newborn will make it’s public debut and join the rest of the herd.

Arusha, a baby giraffe born on July 4, is the first Rothschild giraffe calf born at the world’s oldest zoo

In other baby giraffe news,the first Rothschild giraffe calf as been born at the world’s oldest zoo, The Vienna Zoo in Austria.  Arusha entered the world on July 4 2011 after a six-foot drop from its mother, Lady Rita and stood just moments later.  As we have already discussed on this website, the Rothschild Giraffe is amongst the most endangered of all the nine giraffe subspecies which makes protecting and breeding them so important. Arusha’s long, lanky legs, beige-brown patterned fur and huge eyes with long lashes might look girlish, but the calf’s gender is not yet known.

 

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New Male Giraffe for Whipsnade Zoo

Jul21
2011 Written by admin

 

Uno (left) is smaller than the average male giraffe

In a new topic area, we will be bringing you regular news updates on giraffes from across the globe including movement of giraffes between zoos, where the latest giraffe has been born in captivity etc.  And first up we learned this week that the owners of Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, England have had to ship a male giraffe in from Norway to help boost their giraffe breeding programme.

The new young male giraffe known as Uno, which means number one, will be the zoo’s only breeding male and will live alongside it’s three existing female giraffes, Savannah, and her two female calves, Ina and Ijuma.

The only problem could be that, having now set up home in his new paddock at Whipsnade Zoo, the keepers have realised that nine year old Uno is a bit smaller and less muscular than the average adult male and is in fact one of the smallest giraffes in the group at the zoo.

But what Uno lacks in stature, his keeper, Louise Jackobsen, says he makes up for in spirit and his now learning to walk tall.  Louise, who has been looking after Uno since he arrived earlier this month from Norway, said “He’s already showing an interest in the females and is not put off by their size. Since he has arrived he’s been eating extremely well and is as calm as a rock.”

Uno (right) with female giraffe Ijuma

It is hoped that Uno will quickly gain the affection of the females but for the time being the group are just happy to enjoy roaming their green paddock and munching together from their high feeding posts, tasting all kinds of trees.

Mating among giraffes is not a complicated courtship.

In the wild males would pick up the scent of a fertile female by their hormones, or more specifically the male giraffe nudges the female’s behind to induce urination. He then tastes the urine to see if the female is in heat (see our previous post ‘Unusual giraffe facts – Part 2).

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Giraffe at Illinois Zoo begins taking contraceptive pill

Jun13
2011 Written by admin

The very notion of a giraffe being give the birth control pill is probably surprising to most of us but in fact it’s a fairly routine measure for zoos to take, in order to control the populations of animals born into captivity.

But in the case of Vivian, a nubile giraffe in the Peoria Zoo in Illinois, zoo officials wanted to put her on birth control to prevent her from mating with her male companion, Taji, because they were not deemed to be a good genetic match, according to Zoo Director, Yvonne Strode.  “We look at the whole population [of giraffes] in North America, and the ones that don’t have a lot of brothers and sisters and cousins are the valuable ones. We want to capture their genes.”  In fact all zoos in North America coordinate to maintain genetic diversity between animals.

In the case of Vivian and Taji, Taji’s genes were fairly valuable, whereas Vivian’s were not, therefore to prevent them from breeding, the zookeepers initially added an eight-pound serving of grain mixed with contraceptives to Vivian’s diet.  She cooperated by eating this for a while but then she stopped eating the full helping, which meant that the birth control was ineffective.

Vivian back on the pill

While the keepers looked for an answer to Vivian’s finicky eating habits, they had to separate her from Taji, the menagerie’s sexed-up male giraffe that had eyes for the spotted specimen since she arrived in November.  However a solution was finally found when they switched to a liquid birth control mixed with grain and wrapped in lettuce, which she seems to have accepted.

This means that the two giraffes can once again share an enclosure and officials at the zoo have said they hope to later acquire a third giraffe, another female, which will be a suitable match to mate with Taji.

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