Rothschild Giraffes

Reaching a height of up to 6m, the giraffe is the tallest of all land-living animal species. Their long legs and long necks help them to browse for food at heights of up to 6m. Their long tongues, which can grow to 45cm in length, are used to pull leaves, shoots, bark and flowers off branches.

A number of subspecies have been identified, some of which may prove to in fact be entirely separate species. The Rothschild Giraffe is the second most endangered giraffe subspecies with only a few hundred individuals thought to remain in the wild.

You can find our giraffes living next to our Secret World of Okapi exhibit. Our adult bull Giraffe Thorn is nearly 5m tall. He has been trained by our Keepers to present his front feet through a specially adapted porthole in his enclosure, so that his overgrown hooves can be trimmed.

Chester Zoo has been very successful at breeding giraffes. Our giraffes are part of a European Endangered Breeding Species Programme, which is managed here at Chester Zoo by our Curator of Mammals. With careful management, we are gradually moving towards a herd of pure-bred Rothchild Giraffes.

Giraffe webcam

Adopt me!