Evansville's Mesker Park Zoo welcomes its third giraffe, Clementine
John T. Martin
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Mesker Park Zoo & Botantic Garden has welcomed its third giraffe.
Clementine, who is 10 months old and stands 10 feet tall, arrived from Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri. She is currently off exhibit completing the standard quarantine for all new animals. That is usually about two weeks.
Once her quarantine and acclimation period is complete, she will join the zoo’s two giraffes, Kiah and Kizzie, and zebras in the giraffe yard.
Clementine’s mother is a Rothschild’s giraffe and her father is a Reticulated giraffe. She was about 6 feet tall at birth.
The Association of Zoos & Aquariums is working to enhance conservation of giraffes in the wild. Giraffes are in about 100 AZA-accredited zoos, and their numbers in the wild have decreased dramatically with little notice in the last few years.
Threats include habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, population growth, and poaching, according to AZA. Accredited zoos and their partners are working collectively to help save giraffes through education, scientific research, fieldwork, public awareness and action.
The zoo earlier this month added an anteater, Mr. Pickles.
More:Meet Mr. Pickles, Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden's newest resident
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