5 May 2009

Perth Zoo’s youngest giraffe, Mapenzi, is leaving home today and travelling across the country to Queensland to meet her new mate and the likely sire of her future offspring.

Seventeen-month-old Mapenzi is being accompanied by a Perth Zoo keeper and a Perth Zoo veterinarian on her six-day voyage from Fremantle harbour to Sydney and then overland to Australia Zoo in Queensland.

Australia Zoo has built a new home for Mapenzi which she will share with a male giraffe and hopefully breed with in the next few years.

Chosen for his genetic suitability, her mate Forrest is around the same age and has travelled from Auckland Zoo to join her.

Mapenzi weighed 55 kg and was 1.75 metres tall when she was born at Perth Zoo on Christmas eve in 2007. She now weighs 435 kg and is 2.5 metres tall. When fully grown, Mapenzi will be around 5 metres tall.

Perth Zoo Chief Executive Susan Hunt said it was always sad to see an animal leave but it was hoped that in the years to come Mapenzi would play an important role in the Australasian breeding program for giraffe.

“Perth Zoo has been very successful breeding Rothschild’s Giraffe and we hope that Mapenzi will contribute to the breeding program in the future,” Ms Hunt said.

“Since 1995, Perth Zoo has successfully bred six Rothschild’s Giraffe, which is one of the most threatened giraffe subspecies, with only a few hundred found in Kenya and Uganda.

“Giraffes wean at around 12 months of age so Mapenzi is ready to leave home and start a new life with her new mate.

“Over the past few months, staff have been getting her used to her large travelling crate to prepare her for the trip. The staff will be with her every step of the journey.”

Media contact: Debra Read on (08) 9474 0383 or 0438 950 643

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Background Information

• The Rothschild’s Giraffe is native to Uganda and Kenya and is one of the most endangered giraffe subspecies. It is most easily identified by the five horn-like nubs on its head.
• It is estimated that there are 110,000 giraffe in Africa. Their populations have become fragmented through habitat destruction and human activities such as poaching. In some cases, giraffes have become extinct from areas of their former range.
• There are now three female and one male giraffe at Perth Zoo. The females are Misha, Marama and Asali. The male is Armani.
• Misha is the mother of five of the six calves born at Perth Zoo. She was captured in the famous “The Kiss” photograph welcoming the first of those offspring, Makulu, into the world. 
• All of the male calves born at Perth Zoo have been transferred to other zoos in Australia and New Zealand to become sires in their own right.
• The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world.  Its neck has the same seven vertebrae as most other mammals but they are greatly elongated.
• The giraffe’s long neck and legs are one of the most dramatic examples of adaptation, giving these animals access to a food supply that is out of reach of most other herbivores.
• Giraffe also have specialised blood vessels which enable them to lower and raise their head without a sudden drop in blood pressure.
• The normal giraffe life span is up to 28 years in zoos (less in the wild).
• The gestation period is 400–468 days.
• A giraffe’s height at birth is around 165–190cm. They weigh around 47–70 kg at birth.