大象传媒

Meet the giraffe moving to London Zoo in a 'convertible'!

Nuru the giraffeImage source, London Zoo
Image caption,

Nuru is more than 4.2m tall!

How did the giraffe move house? No, this isn't the start of a joke, more a task zoo keepers had to tackle.

Nuru, who is a seven-year-old reticulated giraffe, was moving to London Zoo as part of a European breeding programme for the endangered species.

She made the trip from ZSL's other conservation zoo in Whipsnade in Bedfordshire, over to the capital in a special transporter with a moving roof - handy as she is more than 4.2m tall!

The team moving her said this meant she could walk into the vehicle by herself before putting her hooves up in a comfy straw bed for the short journey.

Nuru was born at the Whipsnade Zoo in 2016 and now she's fully grown, she will soon join her forever herd in Europe.

But while the conservation team decide exactly where that will be, she'll have a break with some other females, Maggie and Molly, at London Zoo.

Gemma Metcalf, who is one of the giraffe keepers there, says they wanted to make sure she felt at home as soon as she arrived.

"We laid on a delicious housewarming lunch of carrots in preparation - they're her all-time favourite food and she wasted no time tucking in," Gemma said.

Image source, London Zoo
Image caption,

Nuru is spending some time at London Zoo before heading off to her forever herd

The species - which gets its name from the pattern in its coat - is endangered.

It's found in the wild in East Africa but its population is largely threatened by its habitat being destroyed and hunting.

Gemma says Nuru's move is a really important part of the conservation programme, and they hope she can hopefully welcome some babies of her own.

The charity behind the programme is also working with local communities in Africa to try build the relationships between people and wildlife.