Roger Williams Park Zoo has a third giraffe. Enzi, a one-year-old male whose name means “powerful” in Swahili, arrived in Providence in June 2024 to join females Cora and Providence.
He was born in 2023 at Zoo New England’s Franklin Park Zoo and moved on a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan for giraffes, the collaborative breeding program that keeps managed populations genetically diverse.
A population of 137
The Masai giraffe SSP population stands at 137 animals, 60 males and 77 females, spread across 35 accredited facilities. Moves like this one are how that pool stays viable.
In the wild the picture is harder. Masai giraffes are listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the population has fallen by half over the past 30 years. Habitat loss and illegal hunting are the main pressures. The animals are poached for meat and for hide, bones and tail hairs.
As of May 2024 the IUCN estimated 32,200 Masai giraffes remained, with numbers beginning to tick up slightly on the back of conservation work.
The tallest of the tall
Masai giraffes are recognizable by their jagged, irregular spots. They live across eastern Africa and are the largest-bodied giraffe, which makes them the tallest land animal on earth. Bulls like Enzi outgrow females, reaching up to 2,900 pounds and 18 feet. In the wild they can live 25 years.
