North American Masai Giraffe Population

Jaxton said:
0.1 Kylie and 0.1 Tiana at the Virginia Zoo will be moving to ZooTampa at Lowry Park.
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Thank you for letting me know! :)

In other (much sadder) news, Johari at Brevard passed away this past weekend after going into cardiac arrest. She was 21 years old and had 9 calves with the zoo's breeding bull Rafiki, two of which still live at Brevard. We now know that her 2020 male calf's name is Mapenzi.

Remembering Johari | Brevard Zoo blog
 
I keep saying time and time again: the AZA/SSP would greatly benefit from imports from range states Kenya and Tanzania. It would not hurt wild populations and actually compliment them and if zoos support the GCF work on researching the Masai giraffe in situ ... that would be a win win situation.
 
Jaxton said:
0.1 Kylie and 0.1 Tiana at the Virginia Zoo will be moving to ZooTampa at Lowry Park.
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That is great to hear, it has been sad to just see the one animal there. Now if they could just get a zebra or two more...
 
Elena said:
Santa Barbara Zoo has announced the birth of a male Masai giraffe calf named Raymie on January 19. The mother is Adia and the father is Michael (born Shomari in Toronto).
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Great News! Also great to hear the herd has grown again, hopefully the next one is a girl as that’s already 2 boys in a row since 2020, also nice that you put Shomari sucks when animals names get changed.
 
Nice that the last three Masai giraffe calves all belong to Toronto's Twiga and Stipes like. Shomari/Michael being their son, Mstari their daughter and Sunshine their granddaughter. Michael and Mstari's babies were born to the top male and female in North America so both of those births are massive for the species. Sunshine's isnt too shabby either.
 
Toronto's calf has been named Matumaini, which means hope in Swahili. Keepers thought it would be appropriate to give him a name meaning hope to honour the people of Ukraine who are showing incredible bravery and resilience, and to remind us all that we need to keep our hopes up in these troubling times. Matumaini is now on display with mom Mstari and big sister Amani.
 
IndianRhino said:
The purpose of this thread is to document the births, deaths, and transfers of Masai giraffe in North America. This is sort of like a finished product of a thread @Jaxton created a couple years ago and I'd also like to thank @EsserWarrior for your help! It should be noted that there are a couple private holders of this species such as Safari Enterprises and Timbavati Wildlife Park that I couldn't find any information for, so I have omitted them from this list. Safari Enterprises, which is ran by a man named Larry Johnson, is mostly known for taking in excess bachelor males from the SSP population. A number of San Diego born males have been transferred there and I think they are sent to different private holders from there. Anyway, excluding the individuals at those facilities, there are currently around 146 (64.82) Masai giraffes at 38 facilities. Eight (3.5) surviving calves have been born in 2021 so far: 0.1 Eleanor and 0.1 Mawe at SDZ, 0.1 Tiana at Virginia, 1.0 Zeke at Cameron Park, 0.1 Providence at Greenville, 1.0 Humphrey at DAK, 1.0 JD at The Wilds, and 0.1 Alika at Franklin Park. There are also 3 confirmed pregnancies in the population, 0.1 Adia and 0.1 Audrey at Santa Barbara are due in January and July 2022 respectively while 0.1 Mstari at Toronto is due in early 2022. The population is doing well but no where near as good as the generic giraffe SSP so there is definitely a push to grow this population out. And as always, please let me know if I've made any errors, if you have any information I'm missing, or if you know more about the private holders. Enjoy! :)


Brevard Zoo - 6.3 (9)

1.0 Rafiki (Kito x Asali) July 26th, 1998 at Los Angeles Zoo
1.0 Greg (Rafiki x Milenna) March 7th, 2016 at Brevard Zoo
1.0 Floyd (Rafiki x Johari) April 25th, 2017 at Brevard Zoo
1.0 Sprinkle (Rafiki x Milenna) March 17th, 2018 at Brevard Zoo
1.0 TBD (Rafiki x Milenna) September 27th, 2019 at Brevard Zoo
1.0 TBD (Rafiki x Johari) March 29th, 2020 at Brevard Zoo
0.1 Johari (Silver x Abby)January 19th, 2000 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Milenna (Silver x Abby) November 27th, 2001 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Kumi (Silver x Bahati) December 22nd, 2013 at San Diego Zoo

Calgary Zoo - 1.1 (2)

1.0 Nabo (Walker x Mariah) January 11th, 2010 at Louisville Zoo
0.1 Emara (Ahidi x Genny) May 18th, 2011 at Safari West

Cameron Park Zoo - 2.1 (3)

1.0 Dane (Michael x Audrey) April 18th, 2013 at Santa Barbara Zoo
1.0 Zeke (Dane x Penelope) January 22nd, 2021 at Cameron Park Zoo
0.1 Penelope (Silver x Nicky) May 9th, 2013 at San Diego Zoo

Central Florida Zoo - 1.0 (1)

1.0 Gage (Rafiki x Johari) February 6th, 2013 at Brevard Zoo

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden - 2.3 (5)

1.0 Fennessy (Kimba x Tessa) June 17th, 2019 at Cincinnati Zoo
1.0 Theo (Kimba x Cece) November 23rd, 2019 at Cincinnati Zoo
0.1 Tessa (Kiva x Tyra) August 8th, 2006 at Houston Zoo
0.1 Cece (Murphy x Mahali) February 1st, 2011 at Kansas City Zoo
0.1 Zoey (Kimba x Digi) September 13th, 2016 at Cincinnati Zoo

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - 4.2 (6)

1.0 Bocephus (Mulberry x Malaika) July 26th, 2004 at Louisville Zoo
1.0 Zawadi (Travis x Jhasmin) August 6th, 2017 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
1.0 Kidogo (Bocephus x Jada) April 15th, 2019 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
1.0 Kendi (Bocephus x Jhasmin) October 13th, 2020 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
0.1 Jhasmin (Walker x Nova) December 7th, 2005 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
0.1 Jada (Walker x Bridgit) January 7th, 2007 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Columbus Zoo & Aquarium - 1.5 (6)

1.0 Ralph (Enzi x Zuri) June 28th, 2020 at Columbus Zoo
0.1 Jana (Rema x Griff) January 18th, 2001 at Smithsonian National Zoo
0.1 Zuri (Rafiki x Twiga) April 7th, 2010 at Ellen Trout Zoo
0.1 Digi (Walker x Mariah) June 20th, 2011 at Louisville Zoo
0.1 Schaefer (Enzi x Jana) August 26th, 2020 at Columbus Zoo
0.1 Sammie (Enzi x Digi) December 9th, 2020 at Columbus Zoo

Disney’s Animal Kingdom - 3.9 (12)

1.0 George (Murphy x Mahali) March 15th, 2014 at Kansas City Zoo
1.0 Jabari (George x Mara) January 14th, 2019 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
1.0 Humphrey (George x Lily) June 10th, 2021 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
0.1 Stephanie (Rafiki x Johari) March 11th, 2008 at Brevard Zoo
0.1 Lily (Walker x Malinda) September 18th, 2008 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
0.1 Kenya (Griffin x Sukari ) December 22nd, 2008 at Roger Williams Park Zoo
0.1 Willow (Billy x Imara) October 21st, 2009 at Virginia Zoo
0.1 Mara (Hamisi x Kenya) May 20th, 2015 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
0.1 Aella (George x Lily) June 29th, 2018 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
0.1 Acacia (George x Stephanie) March 30th, 2019 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
0.1 Maple (George x Mara) September 22nd, 2020 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
0.1 Zella (George x Willow) October 20th, 2020 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Ellen Trout Zoo - 1.1 (2)

1.0 Kellen (Billy x Imara) June 6th, 2013 at Virginia Zoo
0.1 Twiga (Kito x Asali) October 1st, 1991 at Los Angeles Zoo

Franklin Park Zoo - 1.2 (3)

1.0 Chad (Michael x Audrey) March 26th, 2016 at Santa Barbara Zoo
0.1 Amari (Beau x Jana) July 24th, 2016 at Franklin Park Zoo
0.1 Alika (Chad x Amari) September 22nd, 2021 at Franklin Park Zoo

Fresno Chaffee Zoo - 1.3 (4)

1.0 Fenny (Raha x Savannah) August 7th, 2017 at The Wilds
0.1 Betty Lou (Silver x Bahati) August 2nd, 2007 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Siku (Miguu x Sunshine) September 12th, 2017 at Phoenix Zoo
0.1 Kiden (Miles x Autumn) January 31st, 2018 at Greenville Zoo

Greenville Zoo - 1.2 (3)

1.0 Miles (Kiva x Noel) January 30th, 2009 at Houston Zoo
0.1 Autumn (Beau x Jana) January 7th, 2006 at Franklin Park Zoo
0.1 Providence (Miles x Autumn) February 21st, 2021 at Greenville Zoo

Houston Zoo - 2.3 (5)

1.0 Joshua (Billy x Imara) July 23rd, 2015 at Virginia Zoo
1.0 Bobbie (Joshua x Kamili) September 30th, 2019 at Houston Zoo
0.1 Asali (Kiva x Tyra) March 4th, 2011 at Houston Zoo
0.1 Kamili (Mtembei x Noel) August 3rd, 2014 at Houston Zoo
0.1 Gigi (Mtembei x Asali) August 31st, 2015 at Houston Zoo

Kansas City Zoo - 0.3 (3)

0.1 Mahali (Kito x Neema) June 25th, 1994 at Los Angeles Zoo
0.1 Makali (Silver x Harriet) June 6th, 2012 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Chandy (Hamisi x Lizzie) September 3rd, 2019 at Kansas City Zoo

Lehigh Valley Zoo - 1.0 (1)

1.0 Tatu (Walter x Autumn) February 2nd, 2016 at Greenville Zoo

Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens - 2.2 (4)

1.0 Philip (Raha x Savannah) January 11th, 2012 at The Wilds
1.0 James (Philip x Zainabu) October 2020 at Los Angeles Zoo
0.1 Zainabu (Rafiki x Johari) August 27th, 2011 at Brevard Zoo
0.1 Sofie (Artemis x Hasina) April 22nd, 2013 at Los Angeles Zoo

Louisville Zoo - 1.1 (2)

1.0 Baridi (Hodari x Genny) December 18th, 2015 at San Diego Zoo Safari Park
0.1 Kianga (Philip x Hasina) November 9th, 2016 at Los Angeles Zoo

Metro Richmond Zoo - 1.0 (1)

1.0 Melvin (Rafiki x Johari) March 15th, 2006 at Brevard Zoo

Micanopy Zoological Preserve - 4.0 (4)

1.0 Joey (Rafiki x Johari) March 10th, 2010 at Brevard Zoo
1.0 Oliver (Walker x Malaika) July 21st, 2010 at Louisville Zoo
1.0 Rafeano (Rafiki x Milenna) April 11th, 2011 at Brevard Zoo
1.0 Silvester (Walker x Malaika) June 27th, 2012 at Louisville Zoo

Nashville Zoo - 1.4 (5)

1.0 Rowan (Raha x Savannah) August 30th, 2019 at The Wilds
0.1 Nasha (Kimba x Tessa) April 28th, 2014 at Cincinnati Zoo
0.1 Tazama (Enzi or Hodari x Gasira) July 2nd, 2017 at San Diego Zoo Safari Park
0.1 Amira (George x Kenya) October 1st, 2018 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
0.1 Violet (George x Willow) February 11th, 2019 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Oregon Zoo - 1.0 (1)

1.0 Buttercup (Michael x Audrey) November 13th, 2014 at Santa Barbara Zoo

Phoenix Zoo - 1.4 (5)

1.0 Miguu (Artemis x Neema) April 5th, 2009 at Los Angeles Zoo
0.1 Imara (Silver x Bahati) March 22nd, 2011 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Sunshine (Michael x Audrey) April 28th, 2013 at Santa Barbara Zoo
0.1 Rafiki (Miguu x Imara) June 26th, 2018 at Phoenix Zoo
0.1 Moshi (Miguu x Sunshine) March 22nd, 2019 at Phoenix Zoo

Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium - 1.0 (1)

1.0 Lewis (Artemis x Asali) August 17th, 2006 at Los Angeles Zoo

Potawatomi Zoo - 4.0 (4)

1.0 Seymor (Hamisi x Stephanie) October 23rd, 2016 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
1.0 Maximus (Hamisi x Kenya) December 7th, 2016 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
1.0 Wyatt (Hamisi x Willow) December 11th, 2016 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
1.0 Kellan (Miles x Autumn) June 30th, 2019 at Greenville Zoo

Racine Zoo - 2.0 (2)

1.0 Mac (Walker x Bridgit) August 11th, 2005 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
1.0 Jabari (Travis x Grace) September 5th, 2014 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Roger Williams Park Zoo - 1.2 (3)

1.0 Jaffa (Griffin x Sukari) July 9th, 2010 at Roger Williams Park Zoo
0.1 Sukari (Artemis x Asali) February 27th, 1993 at Los Angeles Zoo
0.1 Cora (Kimba x Cece)July 27th, 2016 at Cincinnati Zoo

Sacramento Zoo - 1.3 (4)

1.0 Chifu (Silver x Nicky) December 1st, 2009 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Shani (Artemis x Neema) August 30th, 2010 at Los Angeles Zoo
0.1 Amirah (Michael x Audrey) March 14th, 2018 at Santa Barbara Zoo
0.1 Glory (Chifu x Shani) September 20th, 2020 at Sacramento Zoo

Safari West - 0.1 (1)

0.1 Jamala (Kito x Neema) August 30th, 1997 at Los Angeles Zoo

San Diego Zoo - 0.6 (6)

0.1 Harriet (Artemis x Neema) November 16th, 2007 at Los Angeles Zoo
0.1 Domibella (Silver x Bahati) May 19th, 2015 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Saba (Philip x Zainabu) July 11th, 2017 at Los Angeles Zoo
0.1 Carol (Fred x Domibella) May 19th, 2019 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Eleanor (Fred x Harriet) January 30th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo
0.1 Mawe (Fred x Saba) November 29th, 2021 at San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo Safari Park - 1.5 (6)

1.0 Gowan (Hodari x Genny) July 31st, 2014 at San Diego Zoo Safari Park
0.1 Gasira (Ahidi x Genny) October 1st, 2004 at Mountain View Conservation and Breeding Center
0.1 Zindzhi (Mtembei x Tyra) April 10th, 2017 at Houston Zoo
0.1 Mara (Mtembei x Asali) April 24th, 2017 at Houston Zoo
0.1 Setchan (Philip x Hasina) October 5th, 2019 at Los Angeles Zoo
0.1 TBD (Gowan x UNK) 2020 at San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Santa Barbara Zoo - 2.2 (4)

1.0 Michael (Stripes x Twiga) August 24th, 2006 at Toronto Zoo
1.0 Twiga (Michael x Adia) March 27th, 2020 at Santa Barbara Zoo
0.1 Audrey (Artemis x Asali) February 6th, 2008 at Los Angeles Zoo - pregnant!
0.1 Adia (Travis x Jhasmin) June 22nd, 2014 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - pregnant!

Seneca Park Zoo - 1.2 (3)

1.0 Parker (Michael x Audrey) August 6th, 2016 at Santa Barbara Zoo
0.1 Kipenzi (Trevor x Elli) April 3rd, 2017 at Toledo Zoo
0.1 Iggy (Billy x Imara)June 4th, 2017 at Virginia Zoo

The Wilds - 3.3 (6)

1.0 Raha (Artemis x Neema) April 4th, 2006 at Los Angeles Zoo
1.0 Gavin (Raha x Lulu) August 4th, 2020 at The Wilds
1.0 JD (Raha x Savannah) September 8th, 2021 at The Wilds
0.1 Savannah (Walker x Nova) August 6th, 2003 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
0.1 Lulu (Kimba x Tessa) October 12th, 2012 at Cincinnati Zoo
0.1 Willow (Rafiki x Johari) November 29th, 2015 at Brevard Zoo

Toledo Zoo - 0.3 (3)

0.1 Michelle (Kito x Asali) April 22nd, 2001 at Los Angeles Zoo
0.1 Elli (Walker x Bridgit) October 31st, 2003 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
0.1 Tuli (Mowgli x Elli) July 23rd, 2011 at Toledo Zoo

Toronto Zoo - 1.2 (3)

1.0 Kiko (Walter x Autumn) October 22nd, 2012 at Greenville Zoo
0.1 Mstari (Stripes x Twiga) October 17th, 2013 at Toronto Zoo - pregnant!
0.1 Amani (Kiko x Mstari) May 12th, 2020 at Toronto Zoo

Turtle Back Zoo - 6.0 (6)

1.0 Robert (Silver x Bahati) August 8th, 2012 at San Diego Zoo
1.0 Lincoln (Hamisi x Willow) March 12th, 2015 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
1.0 Milo (Hamisi x Stephanie) April 13th, 2015 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
1.0 Kamau (Hodari x Gasira) July 19th, 2014 at San Diego Zoo Safari Park
1.0 Sherehe (Hodari x Gasira) December 28th, 2015 at San Diego Zoo Safari Park
1.0 Rocket (Chifu x Shani) April 10th, 2016 at Sacramento Zoo

Virginia Zoo - 2.4 (6)

1.0 Billy (Walker x Nova) July 6th, 2001 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
1.0 Teddy-Acacia (Billy x Noelle) May 26th, 2020 at Virginia Zoo
0.1 Imara (Griffin x Sukari) April 4th, 2002 at Roger Williams Park Zoo
0.1 Noelle (Rafiki x Milenna) February 19th, 2013 at Brevard Zoo
0.1 Kylie (Billy x Imara) May 20th, 2019 at Virginia Zoo
0.1 Tiana (Billy x Imara) January 11th, 2021 at Virginia Zoo

Zoo Tampa - 1.0 (1)

1.0 Sekani (Tufani x Jamala) September 3rd, 2008 at Safari West
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IndianRhino, can you make a North American Reticulated Giraffe Population thread?
 
RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe said:
IndianRhino, can you make a North American Reticulated Giraffe Population thread?
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There are no pure Reticulated giraffes in North America. All zoos that say they have "Reticulated" giraffes just have hybrid mixes of Retic, Rothschild's, and Masai giraffe. Hybrids pop up all over the place and are at a ton of private and/or roadside zoos which release little to no information about their animals so making an accurate list for them would be close to impossible.

Also, I'm saying this here because you seem to double posting in a ton of threads, there is an edit function so if you have anything else to add, just edit your post. Posting 2 or 3 times within just a few minutes is just unnecessary when you can easily edit posts. An even better strategy is to try to think if you have anything else to say before you press the 'post reply' button and/or double-check for any spelling/grammar errors so that you don't have to worry about editing or double posting. It's not a terrible thing to post several times like this but it just clutters up threads and many people find it frustrating.
 
IndianRhino said:
There are no pure Reticulated giraffes in North America. All zoos that say they have "Reticulated" giraffes just have hybrid mixes of Retic, Rothschild's, and Masai giraffe. Hybrids pop up all over the place and are at a ton of private and/or roadside zoos which release little to no information about their animals so making an accurate list for them would be close to impossible.
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Word has it there is a handful of pure Rothschild's (aka Baringo) still about, but it's difficult to say what is where still. Unfortunate our "Reticulated" have ended up hybrids.
 
IndianRhino said:
There are no pure Reticulated giraffes in North America. All zoos that say they have "Reticulated" giraffes just have hybrid mixes of Retic, Rothschild's, and Masai giraffe. Hybrids pop up all over the place and are at a ton of private and/or roadside zoos which release little to no information about their animals so making an accurate list for them would be close to impossible.
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Australasia claimed to have a population of Rothschild’s giraffe (descended from Rockton Safari) that were repeatedly inbred to each other. They’ve since been reclassified as Roths/Retics meaning our region has no purebreds.

I greatly envy you North Americans in at least having purebred Masai giraffes.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I greatly envy you North Americans in at least having purebred Masai giraffes.
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You shouldn't be envious of our zoos! Look at the EAZA that is currently managing 4 purebred giraffe (sub)species! I wish North American zoos were able to sustain the pure Rothschild's and Reticulated populations but alas it is what it is... :(

I know zoos are very much interested in housing pure Masais but due to their slow population growth, many zoos have resorted to keeping and breeding generics as replacements till they are able to acquire some Masais.
 
IndianRhino said:
I know zoos are very much interested in housing pure Masais but due to their slow population growth, many zoos have resorted to keeping and breeding generics as replacements till they are able to acquire some Masais.
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Masais seem to be steadily increasingly though, if slow. The SD parks have been routinely producing calves (even though some losses) and Sacramento has had a few successful births now to name a few.
 
Great Argus said:
Masais seem to be steadily increasingly though, if slow. The SD parks have been routinely producing calves (even though some losses) and Sacramento has had a few successful births now to name a few.
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Yes, they are for sure. We've had 3 (2.1) successful births this year already and it's only March! There's one confirmed pregnant female due in July and I'm sure we'll have a few more calves born this year. California is definitely a Masai breeding hub with both SD parks, Santa Barbara, LA, and Sacramento all having bred them recently, and Fresno with a newly formed breeding herd.

Unfortunately, as you said, the population growth is slow and infant mortalities rates are quite high. However, the AZA/SSP is putting a lot of effort into boosting this population and like I said, there is a lot of interest from zoos so I'm fairly confident we'll see many zoos switching to the Masai SSP in the next few decades.
 
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