The Giraffes at the Peoria Zoo were successfully introduced to their large outside yard on May 24th and were joined by the gerenuk and Thomson gazelle on May 31. Weather permitting; all three species will be on public exhibit daily.

The male giraffe, Taji, came to Peoria in 2008 for the opening of the new Africa! exhibit. A 14 month-old female, Vivian, joined him in October of 2010.

Because giraffe are susceptible to respiratory infections during cold weather, the animals are kept in their heated barn until the temperature is at least 50 degrees. Unfortunately, when the spring temperatures warmed up, the rain and storms prevented Zoo staff from introducing the animals to the yard. Another complication was being able to reliably deliver contraceptive to the female (Taji and Vivian are not good genetic matches for each other so pregnancy is unwanted). During this time, the giraffe not only had access to their spacious barn, but also an outdoor holding area.

On the morning of the 24th, animal staff members arrived early. hey made one last sweep of the yard looking for any hazards and then opened the door between the holding yard & exhibit yard. It took several minutes for the animals to walk out, both ran around the yard a couple of times and then they settled down as if they had always been there. When it was time to come into the barn, both walked calmly inside.
For the next week, the giraffe where in the exhibit yard when weather permitted but the gerenuk and gazelle were kept in their holding yard. This allowed the giraffe to get completely comfortable before the addition of another potential distraction. When all three species were put together, the smaller species were a little leery but not enough to keep them from grazing on the fresh grass. Taji ran around the exhibit once and they simply moved out of his way.

For questions or more information on the Peoria Zoo, please contact Dawn Petefish at 309-681-3501 or Yvonne Strode at 309-696-6504.