Giraffes in the UK

[hjkr]

After learning of the passing of Kubwa at Dudley Zoo, it got me thinking about which UK zoos have giraffes and which subspecies.

I've had a quick look on Zootierliste, and notice that most of the giraffes are either Rothschild or 'no subspecies status', with a few Reticulated and one holder for Kordofan Giraffe (South Lakes).

Does anyone happen to know which zoos have breeding herds? Are there any breeding groups of Reticulated giraffe in the UK? I see South Lakes have both male and female Kordofan, have they ever bred?

Many thanks.

 

[Panthera1981]

After learning of the passing of Kubwa at Dudley Zoo, it got me thinking about which UK zoos have giraffes and which subspecies.

I've had a quick look on Zootierliste, and notice that most of the giraffes are either Rothschild or 'no subspecies status', with a few Reticulated and one holder for Kordofan Giraffe (South Lakes).

Does anyone happen to know which zoos have breeding herds? Are there any breeding groups of Reticulated giraffe in the UK? I see South Lakes have both male and female Kordofan, have they ever bred?

Many thanks.

Whipsnade has a breeding group of Reticulated.

 

[TriUK]

Paignton have an all female herd.

 

[Dave Hill]

Chester Zoo has a pure Rothschilds herd with a good breeding track record. This is now moving in the next few years to the Heart of Africa exhibit with a new Giraffe breeding Unit and a separate Batchelor herd.

 

[Embu]

Hybrid bulls

Port Lympne - 3:0 Cillian, Settanta, Sebastian all born 2003(although someone has stated that Cillian may have died last/this year.)

Folly Farm - 1:0 Rian born 2009

Cotswold - 1:0 Shingo - born 2009

Noah's Ark - 1:0 Kito born 2014ish

Hybrid females

Blair Drummond - 0:5

Keisha - born 1998
Kelly - born 2001
Harriet - born 2005
Ruby - born 2008
Bella - born 2009 (Kelly's daughter)

Blackpool - 0:2

O'grady - born 2009
Olympia - born 2012

Flamingo Land 0:1

Charlotte - born 2003

Dudley zoo 0:2

Josie - born 2009
Kira - born 2019

Marwell zoo 0:2

Makeda - born 2005
Christa - born 2008

Banham 0:1

Fiona - born 2004


The only female I know is no longer around is Zara at Flamingo Land (born Marwell 2003) but unsure when she died.

 

[Embu]

There are more males and females to add but my information is at home

 

[Embu]

**update**

Cotswold do/did have a bull called Century(born Longleat 2006) unsure wether there are questions over his purity or if he's just surplus Rothschild(he was the 10th calf to his mother and his father produced many other calves)

WMSP 2:0
Strider - born December 2002
Henry - born August 2004

Noah's Ark 2:0?
Kito - born Dudley zoo 2014
Gilbert - born Noah's Ark 2019, unsure wether he is still alive as a new female has now arrived since his mother's death and no mention of him.

London zoo 0:2

Molly - born 2006 Chester
Margaret - born 2008 Chester

 

[Embu]

Rothschild

Chester
Meru - 1:0 born 2010
Dagmar - 0:1 born 2006
Orla - 0:1 born 2008
Tula - 0:1 born 2010
Kanzi - 0:1 born 2012 Thorn x Dagmar
Millie - 0:1 born 2013 Thorn x Orla
Zarha - 0:1 born 2014 Meru x Aoifie
Karamojo - 0:1 born 2019 Meru x Orla
Albert - 1:0 born 2021 Meru x Orla
Stanley - 1:0 born 2022 Meru x Orla

Flamingo Land

George - 1:0 born Woburn 2006
Mylelne - 0:1 born 2009/2010?
Lizzie - 0:1 born 2009/2010?
Savannah aka Pixie? - 0:1 born 2013 George x Lizzie
Dottie - 0:1 born 2015 George x Lizzie
Sophie 0:1 born 2017 George x Lizzie

Marwell zoo

Ruby - 0:1 born 2012 conceived at Woburn
M'buro - 1:0 born 2019 Chester zoo

Longleat

Thorn - 1:0 born 2001
Ella - 0:1 born 2004 Kwaheri x Jolly
Gertrude - 0:1 born 2006 Kwaheri x Becky
Kate - 0:1 born 2010 Doto x Becky
Mary - 0:1 born 2012 Doto x Eliza
Shelley - 0:1 born 2018 Thorn x Gertrude
Piper - 0:1 born 2019 Thorn x Kate
Thea - 0:1 born 2019 Thorn x Ella

Other Longleat females that I'm unsure wether they're alive or dead are;

Kruger - 0:1 born 2010 Doto x Eliza
Odele - 0:1 born 2014 Thorn x Ella
Tara - 0:1 born 2015 Thorn x Jemima
Lady Emma - 0:1 born 2016 Thorn x Ella

 

[hjkr]

Marwell zoo

Ruby - 0:1 born 2012 conceived at Woburn
M'buro - 1:0 born 2019 Chester zoo

Thank you for all of this information, it's very helpful. Do you happen to know how many Whipsnade have? Do you know who M'buro's parents are?

 

[Embu]

Thank you for all of this information, it's very helpful. Do you happen to know how many Whipsnade have? Do you know who M'buro's parents are?

I can't help with Whipsnade sadly, apart from they had a male calf born last year.

M'buro's parents are Meru x Dagmar

 

[Rajang-GOAT]

After learning of the passing of Kubwa at Dudley Zoo, it got me thinking about which UK zoos have giraffes and which subspecies.

I've had a quick look on Zootierliste, and notice that most of the giraffes are either Rothschild or 'no subspecies status', with a few Reticulated and one holder for Kordofan Giraffe (South Lakes).

Does anyone happen to know which zoos have breeding herds? Are there any breeding groups of Reticulated giraffe in the UK? I see South Lakes have both male and female Kordofan, have they ever bred?

Many thanks.

Colchester have a non breeding herd of 4 female Reticulated Giraffes currently (in a mixed species paddock with Rhino, Zebra, Kudu, Ostrich, and Crowned Cranes) and have considered bringing in a male a few years back, but I don't think it's on the cards at the moment.

 

[Embu]

Rothschild continued

Paignton zoo

Janica - 0:1 born 2004
Eliska - 0:1 born 2015 Yoda x Janica
Otillie - 0:1 born 2012 Yoda x Sangha
Joanna - 0:1 born 2014 Yoda x Sangha
Florrie - 0:1 born 2017 Yoda x Sangha

Folly Farm

Rudi - 1:0 born 2017 Longleat Thorn x Nora
Shrimp - 1:0 born 2018 Longleat Thorn x Jemima

Knowsley

Alexander - 1:0 born 2013 Woburn
Orbit - 1:0 born 2014 Woburn

Chessington

Kito - 1:0 born 2010 Woburn
Napoli - 1:0 born 2013 Woburn
Oscar - 1:0 born 2014 Woburn

Wingham

Robin - 1:0 born 2017 Woburn
Ruedi - 1:0 born 2017 Woburn

Edinburgh

Ronnie - 1:0 born 2017 Woburn
Arrow - 1:0 born 2017 Woburn
Gilbert - 1:0 born 2017 Belfast
Fenessey - 1:0 born 2017 WMSP
Gerald - 1:0 born 2018 WMSP

Cotswolds

Melvin - 1:0 born 2017 Flamingo Land
Tisa - 1:0 born 2018 Flamingo Land
Remus - 1:0 born 2019 Flamingo Land

Twycross zoo

Settanta - 1:0 born 2011 Ireland (Fota?)
Brad - 1:0 born 2013 Flamingo Land

Port Lympne

Valentino -1:0 born 2012 Paignton Yoda x Janica
Lunar - 0:1 born 2011 Woburn
Lehanna - 0:1 born 2011 Woburn
There are at least 2 youngsters here(Mwezi rings a bell) but don't know when they were born

 

[Keelan]

I'm sure Zahra iz no longer at chester

 

[Embu]

I'm sure Zahra iz no longer at chester

Interesting, does anyone know what's happened to her?

 

[hari Jones]

I think she moved to another collection to prevent inbreeding with meru

 

[Embu]

I think she moved to another collection to prevent inbreeding with meru

That would make sense, abroad I presume?

 

[hari Jones]

Not sure where she moved to

 

[tennisfan]

Chessington has five male Rothschild giraffes – Kito, Moja, Tonda, Oscar and Napoli.
Plus they still have Khari (Reticulated) ex Whipsnade as his move to Europe hasn’t yet completed.

 

[Embu]

Chessington has five male Rothschild giraffes – Kito, Moja, Tonda, Oscar and Napoli.
Plus they still have Khari (Reticulated) ex Whipsnade as his move to Europe hasn’t yet completed.

How did I forget Tonda? am I correct in thinking that Moja is Karamoja and that his mother was Amber( Longleat >Port Lympne>Flamingo Land) ? What's his classification, Rothschild,hybrid or unknown?

 

[tennisfan]

Yes Moja formerly known as Karamoja was I believe born at Port Lympne He was born c 3 July 2006. looking at a PL thread on zoochat it looks like Amber was his mother but she was pregnant before being transferred there.