MARWELL Wildlife is celebrating the arrival of a new male Rothschild giraffe and now they need the public’s help to name him. The 6 day old male who is just shy of 6ft tall, was born as part of the European Endangered Species Programme for Rothschild giraffes.
This species is very rare with currently less than 670 Rothschild giraffes in the wild. The new arrival is experienced Mum Matilda’s seventh calf and she is keeping a close eye on the youngster as he explores his new home.
Keepers have picked a list of five possible names for him, all of which have African origins.
Mosi – (Meaning ‘seventh child’) Tumani – (Meaning ‘hope’ in Swahili) Dubaku – (Meaning ‘seventh child’) Ndwiga – (Meaning ‘a giraffe’ in the kikuyu region) Nsoah – (Meaning ‘seventh born’ in the Akan region)
The public can vote for their favourite name online and will automatically enter a prize draw to win a giraffe adoption!
Ian Goodwin, Collection Manager of Hoofstock said: “The young male is doing incredibly well and finding his feet quickly. He can often be seen galloping around the enclosure with the other two young giraffes.
“This male is a valuable new addition to the Rothschild giraffe EEP (European Endangered Species Programme), which Marwell is a part of.
“This is our third and final giraffe to be born at the park this year. Unlike the last two births, this calf was born in the middle of the night so it was a great surprise for the keepers who opened the doors to the giraffe house in the morning!”
The park’s giraffes have had a successful year of breeding with the arrival of Ruby a female giraffe in January and Olympia another female giraffe, being born in August.
To vote for your favourite name for the new male visit www.marwell.org.uk/giraffe Voting closes on October 31 at 9am.
If you're thinking of buying something recommended by us, please go via the links on our pages. When you do this we may earn a fee which supports our editorially independent, family business.