ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Earlier this month, two new Masai giraffes arrived at the Seneca Park Zoo from a zoo in San Diego. A viewer asked: “How do you ship two giraffes from San Diego to Rochester?”

David Hamilton, the general curator of the Seneca Park Zoo, says the cross-country drive took about 44 hours.

“It takes a lot of work beforehand to get everything set up, making sure that all the facilities are on board with each other,” he said. “We work with an animal transporter, professionals that do this all the time and they have a special trailer that’s made specifically for giraffes.”

The three-year-old female Kura and one-year-old male Elliot had at least three humans on the road with them during the journey.

“They stop every so often and check on them to make sure that they’re doing well, communicate back to both sides, telling them what’s going on, and where they are and updating the ETA,” Hamilton said.

Considering the height of the animals and their ride, the drivers planned their route carefully.

“We made sure that they were very aware of our low bridge there on Saint Paul so that they did not go that way,” Hamilton said.

Giraffes are endangered, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums hopes this move will help them survive.

“The reason that Kura came here is a breeding recommendation with our male, so we would have a breeding herd with JD, Iggy, and Kura,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the new giraffes are adjusting well to their new environment and getting along great with the rest of the tower.

“Once they arrived here, we open up the barn, making sure the other animals are where they need to be when that happens, and then open up the doors to the trailer and then let them come off and come into the barn and get accustomed to the barn and their new friends at Seneca Park Zoo,” he said.

The Animals of the Savannah building is open occasionally while the animals continue to adjust. If you happen to see them, you can tell the two new giraffes apart from the rest of the tower by their color – right now, Elliot and Kura are slightly darker in color than Iggy, Olmstead, and JD.

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