Greenville Zoo Greenville Zoo News

Thanks! A nice article! As far as two males being a stressful situation, Kiko and Walter spar on a daily basis. Walter does not use his full strength. Also Walter has approached Kiko sexually. Today a shocked friend sent me a picture of this. Nothing really happened, Kiko walked away. She did not know that over 90% of all male giraffe sexual encounters are with other males in the wild. Once I explained this she calmed down. :).

It sounds like Greenville Zoo really is trying to upgrade facilities. I hope at some point a bigger giraffe barn will be part of the plans. You always want one extra stall with giraffe. When Autumn was close to delivery, Kiko had to share Walter's stall and the walk-way. Walter was very good about this, but it was not an ideal arrangement for either Walter or Kiko. The reason for this was to allow Autumn a bigger area while giving birth.
An extra stall would have made life a lot nicer for Kiko and Walter. Walter has really been a great father as giraffes go!
 
Looks like Kiko is headed for Canada. No official announcement. Regular watchers of EarthCam had kind of an online vigil, waiting for him to leave. It was between 9:45-10:00 am. Walter and Autumn still seem a little agitated.
 
I feel kind of bad for those who have been following his life. Now that he is a Canadian they wont be able to watch him anymore. Toronto officials are massively behind the times and believe having webcams will drop attendance. It's too bad because so many would love to continue to follow his life as he joins the girls and eventually becomes a father.
 
Mr, Bullock said Toronto might get a web-cam, but of course that's Toronto's call. Web-cams aren't cheap or free. EarthCam is what Greenville has. It's $1100 a month. Maybe doing what Cheyenne Mountain Zoo or Houston does and having their own cam could work.
No zoo with a web-cam has seen attendance suffer. People watch the animals and want to go see them in real life.
My understanding is that Greenville is keeping the cams! :). So maybe we'll get to see other giraffe births.
I personally will miss Kiko. He has a lot of personality. I know he'll do well in Canada though.
I do wish Toronto would get a cam. I am not alone in wishing that could happen.
Here's hoping he'll have a long, happy life there and lots of off-spring. :)
 
The power that be in Toronto are definitely behind the times in their thinking. If a webcam was suddenly available for the giraffes it would be a massive shock. I completely agree with you webcams are amazing ways to connect to the animals and would actually raise attendance.

Stay tuned I bet his arrival will make the evening news. If there is video I will be sure to share.
 
Kiko has safely arrived in Toronto and was moved into the giraffe exhibit where he will wait out his 30 day quarantine before being introduced to the public and the girls.
 
Greenville zoo shared 3 pictures from Toronto Zoo, one yesterday and two this morning. Yesterday, Kiko looked tired and sad, but of course very handsome. Today he looked more his old self. One picture showed him eating some nice browse, the other just showed him looking at the camera.
Private individuals from Greenville and around the country have offered to purchase the cam and help pay for it. Toronto Zoo never even replied.
After Autumn suffered her still-birth, Greenville Zoo considered taking down the cams. No one actually saw the still-birth, they turned the camera, but many of us saw Walter and Kiko totally distressed by what they were seeing. Many viewers who didn't know a lot about giraffe birth processes were being quite aggressive on the Greenville Zoo's Facebook page. I waded in because I do know a bit about this. I got the ones who just didn't know calmed down. I believe anyone who went through that experience and paid attention doesn't blame the zoo any more. Cams are not going to drop attendance, but they can show things that people may not understand. The other thing about cams is they are a wonderful, non-invasive way to check an animal's physical well-being. I watched many close-ups of Autumn and it was fascinating. Probably it was very useful to the vet.
 
The Greenville Zoo kept the cams because people offered to help pay for them. I send a small sum every month. Many others do likewise.
 
The much has been spread, Autumn is good to go. :)

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Autumn is being trained in case she has to be helped during delivery. Watching is quite interesting. It's usually in the morning.
 
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