Blair Drummond Safari Park is mourning the loss of one of their giraffes, the oldest in the UK, amidst celebrations for the park’s first ‘babies’ of the year.
Keisha died peacefully on February 1 at the age of 24 and was said to have been experiencing “age-related” issues recently.
A safari park spokesperson said: “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the loss of Keisha.
“As a result of her failing health, our vet team carried out a full health screen. During this screening, we sadly determined that the best course of action was to put her to sleep.
“Keisha was 24 years of age and the oldest giraffe in the UK.”
Susan Marshall, large mammal team leader at Blair Drummond said: “We are devastated. While under the care of our vet team yesterday, it unfortunately became clear that her health was rapidly declining.
“Keisha was born at Twycross Zoo in 1998 and arrived at Blair Drummond in 2012.
Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.
“She was instantly recognisable by her impressive height, standing at 17 feet tall – about a foot taller than most other female giraffes.
“She was well-known for her confident nature and her love of food.
“Keisha has been a popular member of our family for over 10 years and will be sorely missed by our keepers, members, and visitors, who were all immensely fond of her.”
Operations Manager, Dave Warren said: “We are indebted to the diligence, sensitivity, and professionalism of our vet team.
“Keisha’s keepers were present and involved throughout the operation and had the toughest of calls to make alongside our veterinarians, which they did unanimously.
“Sometimes the rational decisions are the bravest to make in the midst of high emotion.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the squad for this and the care they provided to Keisha throughout her long life.”
Amidst the sadness of losing Keisha, however, the park is also celebrating some new arrivals - born on Burns Night.
The pair of tiny pygmy goat boys were born to mum Betsy on January 25 - and are already said to be “full of beans”.
And they have been given appropriate monikers.
A park spokesperson said: “Our first babies of 2023 have entered the world and they are the cutest little things ever.
“As the boys were born on Burns Night, we decided to go for a Scottish theme for their names – in honour of our national bard.
“ Our Pets Farm keepers came up with a shortlist of their favourites and the rest we left up to the public.
“The shortlist was posted to Facebook, and we asked our followers to help us choose the winning name.
“The choices were: Neeps and Tatties, Rab and Tam, or Jura and Talisker. Within just a few hours, a clear frontrunner emerged, and this lead was maintained right to the end.
“With a final count of 1600 votes, Neeps and Tatties were chosen as the winning names.
“We think it was the perfect choice.
“We can’t wait to show off our new arrivals when we reopen in March.”
