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Jul 8, 2009 10:58 pm US/Central
Good Question: How Do Giraffes Get To The MN Zoo?
(WCCO)
The Minnesota Zoo's new "Africa!" exhibit is helping draw record crowds to visit. It's also bringing a lot of questions about the giraffes. How did the zoo get them here?
First of all, the animals may be African, but that doesn't mean they were born in Africa. The giraffes? They were "born at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs," said Tony Fisher, Collections Manager for the Minnesota Zoo.
The ostrich is from a farm in Iowa. The zebras, wildebeests and gemsboks are from Texas.
The zoo bought the two giraffe brothers for approximately $20,000 in 2007. They were transported to the zoo in Madison where they spent the winters in a climate-controlled building.
So what about that 4-hour drive from Madison to Minnesota?
"A lot of people wonder that. It's really not that difficult," said Fisher.
"It's like a trailer they use for horses, only it's tall," he explained.
Giraffe trailers are tall enough for a 15-foot-tall giraffe to walk into, which would be a problem considering highway bridge clearance is typically 13.5 feet.
"The roof has a hydraulic roof, so it's at that height when they're traveling, when they stop they raise it up," said Fisher.
On a longer trip, like the one from Colorado to Madison, the truck will stop periodically, raise the roof and let the giraffe stand up and stretch.
In general, giraffes don't typically stand up completely straight anyway, he added.
Giraffes are transported overseas via ship in a shipping container, and sometimes they even travel by air.
"There are cargo planes that are pretty big," said Fisher. "Usually they're younger giraffes. They can handle the trip a lot better."
The animals on the Africa! exhibit cannot handle a Minnesota winter and the Minnesota Zoo does not have an indoor facility to handle them. So the giraffes will go back to Madison after the exhibit closes in September and the other animals will go back to Texas, said Fisher.
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