Zoo aims high with giraffe bid

Scotland’s leading zoo hopes to breed giraffes in a bid to help save the animals, it says.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) plans to bring giraffes to Edinburgh Zoo this year.

A bachelor group of Rothschild’s giraffes will be transported from another UK collection this summer, to be housed in a new £2.8 million state-of-the-art giraffe house nearing completion.

The animals will be joined at a later date by females, so that the zoo can contribute to the breeding programme for the species.

There are thought to be fewer than 1,600 Rothschild’s giraffes left in the wild. The RZSS hopes that, alongside conservation work in the species’ native Africa, they can play a part in reviving the population.

Zoo chief executive David Field said: “There are exciting times ahead. We are moving forward with giraffes and hopefully in the summer people will be able to see these wonderful animals here.

“All the major construction work on the giraffe house was completed last year. I’m planning on having them in before the school summer holidays.

“We intend to bring in a bachelor herd of five or six young giraffes initially, so that visitors have a fantastic experience. Then, later on we will bring in breeding females.”

The RZSS, which had to borrow £5m last year to stay afloat in the absence of income from visitors, needs almost £700,000 per month to keep going.