Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventures here on the Zoo’s website!
Giraffes are the tallest land mammals in the world. Females can grow up to 17 feet while males can reach up to 18 feet. While many people believe there is only one species of giraffe, recent research has shown that there are actually four different species of giraffe’s with multiple subspecies. This is crucial to the conservation of specific giraffe species. This discovery has allowed scientists to view distinct giraffe species population and identify that some species of giraffe have much smaller populations than we previously thought. One of these species is the reticulated giraffe.
Native to Kenya, the reticulated giraffe can be easily identified by its geometric spot pattern with striking white lines separating their brown-orange patches. However, these beautiful giants are endangered due to habitat fragmentation and destruction. Due to these threats, their population has declined significantly in the past 20 years. Given that multiple species of giraffe have been identified, the San Diego Zoo has been able to address specific issues to reticulated giraffe. In addition to doing outreach on their natural habitat through the Kenya Project, a program that works with local people in Kenya to monitor reticulated giraffe population and spread awareness about conservation. The San Diego Zoo is also part of a Species Survival Plan (SSP) for reticulated giraffe. One of the purposes of an SSP is to work to breed endangered species in zoos across the country. With about 140 giraffes being born at both the Zoo and Safari Park, this is something the San Diego Zoo has been especially successful at.
Baby giraffes born at the Zoo are mostly raised by their mothers in the enclosure and need very little help from the keepers. However, even though keepers are mostly hands off when baby giraffes are born, they did notice that the calves are actually born with their ossicones laying flat on their heads. Ossicones are similar to horns however they are made out of cartilage. Male giraffes use ossicones to fight with each other. This is interesting because many other species that have horns are not born with them at all and they grow in later in life.
One of the oldest giraffes at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Kizawanda, nicknamed kizzy, is a reticulated giraffe. She is known by keepers as friendly, sassy, and a joy to work with, and we definitely got to experience this first hand. Each one of us had the opportunity to feed Kizzy and she was incredibly friendly, attempting to stick her head in the truck, and she even ate accashia leaves right from our hands. It was easy to see how she has made such a great addition to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s animal collection.
However, Kizzy is not alone in her enclosure. Throughout her enclosure she is surrounded by other reticulated giraffe, and even other species found throughout Kenya and eastern Africa. Mixed species exhibits are an effort done by the Zoo and Safari Park to enrich the species by making the exhibits as naturalistic as possible. By maintaining a more natural environment for the animals that reside at the Zoo and Safari Park, Kizzy is given the opportunity to interact with species she would interact with in the wild.
Casey, Species Spotlight Team
Week Six, Fall Session 2018
