Seattle's 'Tallest Baby' Lulu Leaving Zoo Soon

From Woodland Park Zoo: In early September, Lulu, Woodland Park Zoo’s 1-year-old female giraffe, will move to Lincoln Children’s Zoo in Lincoln, Neb. The lovable giraffe was born last June to first-time parents, mom Tufani (too-FAW-nee) and dad Dave. Lulu captured the hearts and minds of the community when the zoo revealed the first video and photos of her soon after she was born. “Her spunky spirit helped build an emotional connection with our guests and our social media community. Many developed a love for giraffes because they fell in love with Lulu,” said Katie Ahl, a lead keeper at Woodland Park Zoo. “It’s been an honor taking care of Lulu and having her in our lives. We’ll miss her greatly and I might even tear up a bit when she leaves, but we are excited for the new adventure that lies ahead for her.

The animal keepers at her new zoo are excited and ready to meet her and she’ll be a wonderful addition to Lincoln Children’s Zoo. We hope her fans will drop by for a final visit with Lulu before she leaves.” At her new home, Lulu will join a herd of young giraffes in a brand new $20 million, 10-acre expansion, which will also house Sumatran tigers, black-headed monkeys and several other species. When the exhibit opens in spring 2019, year-round giraffe feeding opportunities will be offered for zoo guests. An experienced driver who specializes in large animal transportation for zoos nationwide will transport Lulu in an extra tall trailer, offering greater neck and leg room for the 1,600-mile road trip.

The heightened trailer is equipped with slip-proof flooring and lots of bedding for resting for the trip; Lulu will travel with browse (branches, twigs), daily grain, hay and water. The zoo’s giraffe keepers also will send Lulu off with a few bags of her favorite training treat, leaf eater biscuits, and a couple of special feeders and enrichment items. To prepare Lulu for the trek to Nebraska and to help ensure a seamless transition to her new home, she is participating in a series of training sessions with her keepers, explained Martin Ramirez, mammal curator at Woodland Park Zoo. “Trailer training, target training, touch desensitization, chute training for medical procedures, and blood draw and injection training will help give Lulu a solid base of behaviors and experiences that will allow her to be a successful giraffe at her new home,” said Ramirez. At birth, Lulu was Seattle’s tallest baby, standing in at 5 feet, 9 inches and weighing 149 pounds. Today, she is about 10 feet tall and tips the scale at more than 900 pounds. “Lulu’s still growing and should be fully grown by 6 or 7 years old, but she’s old enough to be independent from her mom and is no longer nursing,” said Ramirez. In addition to Lulu’s parents, the other giraffe at the zoo is Olivia, Tufani’s sister. Zoo guests can experience the giraffes living in the zoo’s award-winning African Savanna, which is home to other species native to the vast grasslands of East Africa including hippos, lions, patas monkeys, zebras and ostriches. Lulu’s move to a new home is under a recommendation made by the Giraffe Species Survival Plan.

Species Survival Plans are conservation breeding programs across zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums to help ensure healthy, self-sustaining populations of threatened and endangered species; Woodland Park Zoo participates in more than 108 Species Survival Plans. Led by experts in husbandry, nutrition, veterinary care, behavior, and genetics, the plans also involve a variety of other collaborative conservation activities such as research, public education, reintroduction and field projects.Giraffes are widespread across southern and eastern Africa, with smaller isolated populations in west and central Africa. New population surveys estimate an overall 36 to 40 percent decline in the giraffe population, from approximately 151,702 to 163,452 in 1985, to 97,562 in 2015. Of the currently recognized subspecies of giraffe, five have decreasing populations, while three are increasing and one is stable.

Giraffe enthusiasts can stick their necks out for giraffes and help support conservation efforts by visiting Woodland Park Zoo and supporting Wildlife Survival Fund projects, including the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, which seeks to provide the first long-term ecological monitoring effort of the Angolan giraffe—an important desert-dwelling giraffe subspecies in north-western Namibia.

Visit http://www.zoo.org/conservation to learn more about the zoo’s conservation partnerships taking place in the Pacific Northwest and around the world. Summer zoo hours through September 30 are 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily. For more information or to become a zoo member, visit www.zoo.org or call 206.548.2500. Founded in 1899, Woodland Park Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums and certified by the rigorous American Humane Conservation program. The Humane Certified™ seal of approval is another important validation of the zoo’s long-standing tradition of meeting the highest standards in animal welfare. Woodland Park Zoo is helping to save animals and their habitats through more than 30 field projects in the Pacific Northwest and around the world. Each year, the zoo engages more than a million visitors of all ages, backgrounds, abilities, and walks of life in extraordinary experiences with animals, inspiring them to make conservation a priority in their lives and a difference in our planet’s future ecological health and sustainability. Visit www.zoo.org and follow the zoo on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Image via Woodland Park Zoo