Nashville Zoo: Welcome Rowan The Giraffe

Press release from Nashville Zoo:

December 1, 2021

Rowan, a two-year-old male Masai giraffe, is joining the herd at Nashville Zoo! He arrived on Halloween from The Wilds in Columbus, Ohio, bringing the number of giraffes in the Zoo’s care to five. Check out this video of Rowan!

Plan for Rowan

Rowan has been introduced to the female giraffes and is settling in nicely. He and the four female giraffes have been going through a quarantine period together inside their barn so that the herd can get acquainted and keepers can monitor Rowan’s health as he adjusts to his new home. Guests will be able to see Rowan and the rest of the herd in the giraffe habitat soon once they clear the quarantine.

Fun Facts

Giraffes are the tallest of the land mammals eating a daily average of 75 pounds with their 18-inch long tongue. Their diet consists of leaves, twigs, sprouts, flowers, fruits, and bark. A giraffe’s heart weighs an average of 25 pounds and has thick blood vessels in order to generate enough force to fight gravity as blood travels back up from their feet.

Conservation

Masai giraffes (Giraffa tippelskirchi) are native to the dry savannahs and open forests of Africa. Nashville Zoo is part of the AZA’s Masai giraffe Species Survival Program® and financially contributes to giraffe conservation through the Garissa Giraffe Project and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists Masai giraffes as endangered due to poaching.

Stay tuned on Nashville Zoo’s social media channels for more updates!

This press release was produced by Nashville Zoo. The views expressed here are the author’s own.