The Cincinnati Zoo's New Giraffe Exhibit: Giraffe Ridge

I recently took my son to the Cincinnati Zoo, and the new giraffe exhibit is finally open! They have been under construction for months, but the new exhibit is finally finished, and it is well worth taking a trip to the zoo to see the animals in their new habitat. The new exhibit allows the giraffes to come right up to where guests are standing and you can reach right out and touch them! You are right at eye level with the giraffe, and it allows you to see these magnificent animals really up close. There is also a learning center where you can find out more about giraffes and ask volunteers and zookeepers anything you might want to know about these beautiful creatures.

Fun Facts about Maasai Giraffes

Maasai giraffes are native to Africa, typically in Tanzania and Southern Kenya, and are sometimes also referred to as Kilimanjaro giraffes. The Maasai giraffes are the largest subspecies of giraffes, and are beautifully marked with jagged brown spots. Because giraffes are so tall (they are actually the tallest animals on the planet!), they often see their predators from much further away than other animals might see theirs, so they are able to escape danger because they get so much more of a head start.

The giraffe's neck is six feet long, and like all mammals - humans included! - it still only has seven bones. Isn't that amazing? This long neck allows the giraffe to not only see predators from very far distances away, but it also gives them access to food in high places like trees, that most other animals would not be able to get to.

The Maasai giraffe usually grows between thirteen and seventeen feet tall, and can weigh between 1210 and 4250 pounds. Giraffes spend most of the day eating, and can sometimes eat as much as 75 pounds of vegetation a day. Giraffes usually eat leaves, shoots, and fruit.

The giraffe's tongue is black, and has really thick saliva on it, which protects it from the thorns on the animal's favorite food resource, the Acacia tree. The giraffe's tongue can also grow up to a foot and a half long, allowing it to reach food in even further places!

Fun Facts about the Giraffes at the Cincinnati Zoo

The day my son and I went to the zoo, there were four giraffes out for everyone to see, and the zookeeper told us that they are all under two years old. Three of them were female and one was male. They were all about the same size, and although they looked like very large giraffes to me, the zookeeper said that they are quite small right now just because of their age. He said that the male giraffe, by this time next summer, would be so much bigger then the three female giraffes.

Feed a Giraffe and Meet the Zookeeper

While giraffes pretty much eat all day long, there are special times at the Cincinnati Zoo when the zookeepers will actually allow the guests to feed the giraffes. They do this daily from 10-11 a.m. and again from 1-2 p.m. You can literally have the giraffes eating out of the palms of your hands. Or, if you're a little bit nervous about letting those big animals lick on your hands (like me!), you can simply watch others feeding them.

From May 26-September 1, you can also meet the zookeeper every day after 1:00 p.m. From September 6-October 5, you can meet the zookeeper only on weekends at 1:00 p.m. He or she is available for questions, and often will teach the crowd about the giraffes and what steps the zoo takes in order to help with wildlife conservation of the Maasai giraffe in Africa.

All in all, Giraffe Ridge is a great new exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo, and I hope that you, too, can take your family to experience it as well!