Reticulated giraffe

« No animal has a body as towering or extraordinary as that of the giraffe! »

To live happily, live together

Solidarity is at the group’s core

The giraffe is a very social animal, living in groups of 5 to 6 individuals in the African savannah. Community living enables predators to be spotted and their attacks to be defended against, but in the case of the giraffe, this is not the only advantage… When a female gives birth to a calf, the whole group will take care of it and protect it, especially during times when the mother is less available; for example, when she heads to the nearest water hole. A sort of nursery may therefore take shape, with a few females taking care of all the new-borns within the group.

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Kimia, our giraffe calf

The first few outings

Kimia sets off on her first few outings on the great plain of the African Savannah! In order to gradually get her used to this new space, she spent 2 hours a day there, along with her mother and the rest of the giraffe group. Around 10 a.m., the giraffes then made way for the African Savannah’s other animals.

Beauval Nature supports the monitoring of giraffes

The giraffe, one of the most charismatic species in Africa, suffered a drastic population decline at the start of the 21st century.

This species is threatened by illegal hunting and agricultural development due to population growth in Africa. The Giraffe Conservation Foundation, with the support of Beauval Nature, works to develop monitoring programmes that are provided by government organisations.

The programme aims to study giraffes in their natural environment by fitting them with radio collars in order to study their movement, social interactions, and ecology.

Find out about this programme

Beauval’s giraffes

The first giraffes were housed at the ZooParc de Beauval in 1999.

The current group is made up of 3 young females and a 7-year-old male.
The group is relatively young and had their first baby (Kimia, female) in July 2019, the second (Melman, male) in July 2021 and finally Maïwenn (male) in February 2022.

Giraffes news

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Learn more about the species

Range

Africa

Diet

Herbivore
Gestation period

15 months
Litter size

1 young
Habitat

Savannahs

Kimia, Beauval’s first giraffe calf

July 22, 2019 was a great day for our group of giraffes, it the day on which the very first giraffe calf was born at the ZooParc de Beauval! The giraffe calf is the daughter of Baya and Momo and was born in the middle of the night, surrounded by the rest of the giraffe group. This was excellent news, as it was a milestone for the conservation and protection of giraffes at Beauval.

A “high” profile birth

The baby giraffe makes a particularly dramatic entrance into the world. Having left its mother’s womb, the giraffe calf falls from a height of almost 2 m, directly onto the ground! This initial, and somewhat brutal contact with the outside world can sometimes lead to injury. Fortunately, this was not the case for Kimia.

An extraordinary body

No animal has a body as towering or extraordinary as that of the giraffe! The giraffe’s body is in fact perfectly adapted to his diet. Its unique long neck, enormous legs, and 50 cm prehensile tongue give it exclusive access to leaves and tree branches. However, its size becomes a real handicap when it comes to drinking; the giraffe is forced to almost do the splits so that its head can reach the surface of the water. In doing it is at the mercy of predators such as lions or crocodiles.