Wellington Zoo Media Release

New giraffe for Wellington

Seun, a one year old male giraffe from Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch will arrive in Wellington by ship on the morning of Friday 11 April and then be transported to Wellington Zoo, Husbandry Manager Suzette Nicholson announced today.

‘We are very excited about getting a new giraffe and hope that Seun will form a breeding pair with Zahara, our young female giraffe. He will be the first giraffe brought into Wellington Zoo since Tisa, our older female, arrived in 1991 from Melbourne Zoo,’said Suzette.

‘Although we are sad to see Seun go, this transfer is positive for the regional breeding programme and demonstrates how zoos work collaboratively together. Animal transfers are always a stressful time but we are confident this will be a relatively straightforward process. Hopefully, Seun will breed and produce youngsters at his new home,’ adds Orana’s Animal Collection Manager, Ian Adams.

‘Moving a giraffe requires a great deal of planning, as they are not the easiest animals to transport. Seun is young and relatively small though, standing at around 2.8 metres tall and weighing approximately 300 kilograms. He will be transported to Wellington in a specially designed and built crate,’ said Suzette.

‘Seun will be put on board a Pacifica ship in Christchurch at around 6.30pm on the evening of 10 April and is scheduled to arrive in Wellington at around 7.20am on Friday morning. He will be accompanied by our Wellington Zoo vet and a zoo keeper from Orana Wildlife Park during his 13 hour journey.’

‘He will then be offloaded at CentrePort in Wellington onto the back of an Orbit Heavy Haulage truck before being driven through the streets of Wellington up to the Zoo in Newtown. At the Zoo, he will be transferred onto a telehandler to be driven into the African Savannah exhibit – his new home.’

‘Once at the Zoo, he will be taken into the new giraffe house at the Zoo, where he will remain inside for a week or so while he is introduced to Zahara and Tisa and to get used to his new environment. However, visitors to Wellington Zoo should still be able to see him during this time,’ said Suzette.

ENDS

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