Come and meet the herd!

Werribee Open Range Zoo have welcomed three new juvenile Giraffe joining the Zoo’s existing bachelor herd of four male adults.

One-year-old male Giraffes David and Wayo [pronounced: Way-ow], and two-year-old Jesse came from Australia Zoo in Queensland and Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

After completing their routine quarantine, the curious Giraffe have been getting to know the rest of the herd and other species including Southern white rhino, Ostrich, Plains zebra and antelope.

The trio have moved as they have reached an age where Giraffes leave their family group to join a bachelor herd, replicating what occurs in the wild.

The young males will learn important life skills from Werribee Open Range Zoo’s Giraffe herd, including new feeding, drinking and sleeping locations and how to build relationships with the various species they will encounter on the Savannah.

Come and see them settling in to their new home on the Savannah!

You can see the new arrivals on the Safari Bus Tour (included in Zoo entry) and they’re easy to spot – David, Wayo and Jesse are still growing and measure just three to four metres in height while their fully-grown adult herd mates are five-and-a-half metres tall!

Giraffes are native to Africa, however their wild populations are in decline and fewer than 70,000 remain in the wild due to habitat destruction and illegal poaching.