3-year-old giraffe finds new home at The Maryland Zoo
BALTIMORE -- A 3-year-old female reticulated giraffe has joined the herd at The Maryland Zoo, officials announced Monday.
The new giraffe, which does not yet have a name, was transported from another Association for Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoo. She traveled in a special trailer and was joined by two addra gazelle.
The Giraffe House will be closed to the public as the new giraffe goes through a standard quarantine procedure and gets to know the zoo's other two giraffes. The zoo's male giraffe will be visible outside when the weather is nice, officials said.
"Giraffes are naturally cautious animals so we're giving our new female plenty of time to get acclimated," Erin Cantwell Grimm, Mammal Curator at the Maryland Zoo said. "She's already been introduced to our older female, Kesi, who is a calming influence, and we're pleased with how well she's doing."
Once the new giraffe is comfortable, zoo keepers will slowly expose her to people, starting with zoo staff and then the public.
The two gazelle that traveled with the giraffe will also quarantine before joining the rest of the antelope herd.
Zoo visitors will have no problem spotting the 12-foot-tall giraffe once she's out of quarantine. But she's still the shortest of the zoo's giraffes. Kesi, a female, stands 14 feet tall, and Caesar, a male, stands nearly 16 feet tall, according to zoo officials.
Anyone who donates $100 or more to The Maryland Zoo will be entered for a chance to name the new giraffe. The money raised will directly support the care of the new animal and the zoo's wildlife conservation programs.
Animals at The Maryland Zoo
In March 2023, the zoo mourned the loss of a 6-year-old giraffe named Willow. Officials said she died unexpectedly after experiencing a sharp decline in her appetite a few days prior.
Willow was born at The Maryland Zoo in 2017, and at the time was the first giraffe calf to the born at the zoo in over 20 years.
She was born to female, Juma, and male Caesar, who still lives in the Giraffe House at the zoo.
This past summer, the zoo added another young animal, with the birth of Ivy the chimpanzee. In early November, the zoo announced the birth of two African penguin chicks. The species was recently re-classified as critically endangered, according to zoo officials.
