Farewell Giraffe Nakuru

Aucklanders have the opportunity today to farewell one of our most popular residents. Giraffe Nakuru is being shipped to Australia, after delighting Auckland Zoo visitors since her birth 15 months ago.

Aucklanders may catch a glimpse of Nakuru as she makes her way through suburban streets en route to the Ports of Auckland between approximately 2pm and 3pm.

“Nakuru is the most confident, interactive and well behaved giraffe calf I have ever worked with. My team and I will miss her, but her departure is for a good cause,” says Pridelands team leader Nat Sullivan. Auckland Zoo is part of an Australasian regional breeding programme for giraffes, and Nakuru is crossing the Tasman to be paired up with a male giraffe at Melbourne Zoo.

Nat Sullivan will accompany Nakuru onboard along with keeper David Crimp and vet Dr Bethany Jackson. Onboard ‘giraffe luggage’ for Nakuru’s trip includes food, enrichment devices like boomer balls, and medical supplies. “I’m hoping that the weather will be fairly settled on the trip over. But we will be spending a lot of time with her and checking on her regularly, which will hopefully help her feel secure,” says Nat.

Moving giraffes between zoos requires considerable preparation both prior to boarding, and during the voyage. Nakuru has been vaccinated and micro-chipped with identification information, and ‘crate trained’ to enter her 4.2m high crate. Nakuru will initially go to Werribee Open Range Zoo for a month (for the quarantine), and then onto Melbourne Zoo.

Maersk Line New Zealand Marketing Manager David Gulik says the unusual cargo presented some unusual challenges: “Any cargo that is not the standard size and shape requires a bit of extra planning to ensure we make the best possible use of the space available. To minimise disruption for Nakuru we will load her last, so we’ve had to organise the rest of the loading around that. We also need to keep her safe and well-protected, and make it easy for Nat, David and Bethany to get to her during the voyage. It’s rare for us to transport live animals, but we’re delighted to have the opportunity to support the regional breeding programme,” says Mr Gulik.

While the team at Auckland Zoo are sad to lose Nakuru, herd numbers will soon be back up. Female Rukiya is pregnant and due in July, so another new giraffe is on the way, and the Pridelands team will be busy preparing for the new arrival.

Additional information

Nakuru was born at Auckland Zoo on 15 January 2012, so she will be 15 months old on the day of her departure.
Nakuru is approximately 3m tall and weighs approximately 480kg.
Prior to Nakuru’s birth, there had been only male giraffes born at Auckland Zoo for the past 26 years, apart from Ntombi in 2007.
The crate weighs 2.5 tonnes, is 4.2m high, 2.8m deep and 2.8m wide – this gives Nakuru enough room to sit down if she wants to.
Nakuru will travel inside the crate on a truck from Auckland Zoo to the Ports of Auckland around 2pm on Monday, 15 April. The route will be: Old Mill Road (Gate 3), Motions Road, Great North Road, St Lukes Road, Balmoral Road, Mt Eden Road (through Mt Eden shops), Symonds Street, Anzac Ave, Beach Road.
The Zoo expects Nakuru to put her head out of the crate as she travels along and this is most likely when she is stopped at traffic lights.
Nakuru is expected to arrive at the Ports of Auckland around 3pm on Monday, 15 April. She will then be lifted by crane aboard the ship, JPO Scorpius.
The voyage to Australia will take 5 days.

ENDS

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