A zoo has expressed its love for its new giraffe Mburo, which has a cute little heart-shaped marking on his cheek. Marwell Zoo took delivery of the three-year-old weeks after the sudden death of its giraffe Irsula.
Mburo is the first male giraffe at the zoo near Winchester in Hampshire for five years. And the Rothchild's giraffe is reportedly settling in great with females Makeda, Christa and Ruby, who were all born at the zoo.
The youngster is currently four metres tall but could grow to 5.7m when fully grown. He previously lived at Chester Zoo.
Adam Ford, senior animal keeper, said: “Mburo’s arrival is very exciting for Marwell and the future of the Rothschild’s giraffes, furthering Marwell’s in-situ conservation programmes. He is settling in well with the girls and is proving to be a big character already.
“He has many distinguishable features, such as his large ossicones (the horns on a giraffe’s head) which both bulls and cows have, but in bull giraffes they are always more prominent. He also has a perfect love-heart on his left cheek.”
Giraffes have been resident at Marwell since 1971, shortly before the zoo opened to the public. A spokeswoman for the zoo said viewing of the new arrival will be limited for a short time.
"Our giraffe herd is being quarantined for 30 days to reduce the risk of introducing parasites and disease. This means that viewing of the giraffe is currently slightly limited," she said.
“There are still places to see them but the areas in closest proximity have been closed off for the time being.”
