;

Giraffe at Burgers' Zoo births first calf

Thursday, 30 October 2025

A giraffe born on Tuesday, 21 October 2025, at around 23:00, can be seen by visitors to the Arnhem zoo for the first time today.

On Thursday, 30 October, visitors to Royal Burgers' Zoo can meet the first calf of a four-and-a-half-year-old giraffe for the first time. The mother was born at Aalborg Zoo in Denmark and travelled to the zoo in Arnhem on 25 January 2024. The father was born at Chester Zoo in England more than 8.5 years ago. He was moved from GaiaZOO in Kerkrade to Burgers' Zoo on 13 June 2024. The newborn giraffe is female.

Overly curious zebras

Weather permitting, the mother and her calf will spend the next few weeks in a special separation enclosure bordering the large savannah plain. At night, the pair will reside in the stable with all the other giraffes, albeit in a separate pen initially. Once the calf is big and strong enough to stand steadily on its legs, it will be allowed onto the plain to meet the zebras, antelopes and rhinos. Zebras can be particularly curious and somewhat pushy towards newcomers.

European population management programme (EEP) for giraffes

Zoos affiliated with EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria) cooperate closely in a European population management programme for giraffes. These programmes are known as EEPs (EAZA Ex-situ Programmes); the giraffe EEP is coordinated by Opel-Zoo in Germany. The programme is aimed at maintaining a genetically healthy and diverse zoo population for the future. As of the summer of 2025, experts recognise four giraffe species; Arnhem is home to the Northern giraffe, which is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.

Dutch efforts fruitful

On 13 June 2024, the giraffe bull that sired the new calf was moved from GaiaZOO to Burgers' Zoo; GaiaZOO in Limburg received a new bull from Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen a few weeks later. These efforts have proven fruitful, but giraffe breeding remains complex and a delicate process. Another giraffe calf born in Arnhem on Friday, 3 October 2025, sadly died two days after birth, despite the efforts of the medical team, biologists and zookeepers.