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It's been a busy week in the Giraffe House!

From Africa Alive to Banham Zoo, Iniko the giraffe packed her bags and moved across counties last Friday to join us here in Norfolk. She's been settling in well, meeting her new friends and nearly a week it's safe to say she's thriving in her new home.

It's not every day a giraffe moves house so we made sure to document all of the process! Swipe to follow Iniko's big move.

We would love to thank everyone involve including Crossborder Animal Services for their rather impressive giraffe moving trailer as well as all of the animal team at Africa Alive and Banham Zoo for making Iniko's journey as smooth and calm as possible.♥️
 
Mckenzie2000 said:
Thank you, was debating that as noticed the markings but didn’t expect them to manage to get hold of Greater Rhea but I’m glad they have.
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The Greater Rhea, or just Rhea, are a common staple of farm-parks, and smaller collections both private and public, and are sometimes farmed for their meat. They would not be a priority for most mainstream zoos and would be considered something of a 'space-filler'.
The Lesser or Darwin's Rhea has always been a rarity and something, not too long ago, you would have needed to visit mainland Europe to see.
 
ZooNews2024 said:
The Lesser or Darwin's Rhea has always been a rarity and something, not too long ago, you would have needed to visit mainland Europe to see.
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Offhand, I think the first Lesser Rhea import into the UK in recent decades (the species having been briefly held in the 1950s, 1970s and early 1990s respectively) was when Edinburgh went into the species in the mid-2000s; they had a bit of a surge in popularity in the 2010s, with about a dozen UK collections holding them, but I've definitely noticed a distinct drop-off lately and I don't think anywhere is breeding them within the UK.

As such I wouldn't be surprised if we return to the days of them being a massive rarity again.
 
ZooNews2024 said:
The Greater Rhea, or just Rhea, are a common staple of farm-parks, and smaller collections both private and public, and are sometimes farmed for their meat. They would not be a priority for most mainstream zoos and would be considered something of a 'space-filler'.
The Lesser or Darwin's Rhea has always been a rarity and something, not too long ago, you would have needed to visit mainland Europe to see.
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Ah ok, I know Lesser Rhea are more prevalent in smaller collections and no there’s been financial issues at Banham so assumed they’d opt for them, but pleasantly surprised they’ve gone for Rhea americana.
 
Animallover1998 said:
I had a feeling they'd gone out of Rheas... as they're no longer listed on the park's website. Though there was a recent video that showed them being housed in the old Anoa/Reindeer paddock. I'm guessing that was just a temporary move?
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I know this is the wrong thread but where are the Anoa housed now?
 
Mckenzie2000 said:
Ah ok, I know Lesser Rhea are more prevalent in smaller collections and no there’s been financial issues at Banham so assumed they’d opt for them, but pleasantly surprised they’ve gone for Rhea americana.
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As already established, Lesser Rhea are *not* more prevalent - in smaller collections or overall - and as such I imagine they would likely be rather pricier than Greater Rhea were a collection to attempt to purchase the species.... so the financial issues of Banham make it less likely they would obtain the species, not more likely.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
As already established, Lesser Rhea are *not* more prevalent - in smaller collections or overall - and as such I imagine they would likely be rather pricier than Greater Rhea were a collection to attempt to purchase the species.... so the financial issues of Banham make it less likely they would obtain the species, not more likely.
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Oh? I thought they were a staple of farm parks and smaller wildlife parks? I may have just been conflating the two species in the past.
 
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