News

31 July 2009

Woburn Safari Park says ‘Jambo’ to its first Giraffe of 2009

Woburn Safari Park is celebrating the birth of its first Rothschild giraffe to be born in 2009.

Baby Giraffe July 2009

This birth signals another major success for the park’s breeding programme of the most endangered of the nine subspecies of giraffe.

Born during the afternoon of Friday 24th July, the new male giraffe has been named ‘Jambo’ which means ‘hello’ in Swahili, the national language of Kenya and Uganda where this subspecies originates from.

His eleven-year-old mum, Savannah, is one of Woburn’s most experienced, having given birth to four calves since her arrival at the safari park from Edinburgh Zoo in 2003. There are now nine Rothschild Giraffe at Woburn.

The giraffe at Woburn can be found in the large African section where they roam alongside the critically endangered Grevy’s zebra. Population estimates for the Rothschild giraffe vary from just 40 to a couple of hundred in the wild. It is named after Lord Walter Rothschild who was the first to identify it as a new subspecies as the male has five horns (known as ossicones) on its head – two more than other species.

At Woburn Safari Park a change in how the species has been managed in recent years has resulted in a baby boom – there is another giraffe due at the park imminently, making Woburn a world leader in giraffe management and conservation.

Woburn’s head of animal management and conservation Dr Jake Veasey, who is an experienced giraffe biologist having worked with them in the wild in Zimbabwe, says: “We’re delighted at the safe arrival of another giraffe here at Woburn Safari Park. It’s testament to the changes we have made in managing the everyday lives of these rare animals and a great boost to the survival of this critically endangered subspecies.”

Woburn is one of the most successful breeders of Rothschild giraffe in Europe and its programme of ensuring a natural diet is maintained all year round supports this. In the summer, branches are collected from trees on the 3,000 acre estate and fed to the giraffes each day; the surplus meanwhile is stored for the winter months. In fact Woburn, having purposely planted 10,000 trees, is the only zoo in Europe that can guarantee its giraffes a supply of fresh leaves 365 days a year.