Hamilton Zoo eyes giraffe breeding after new arrival, planned habitat upgrade

Friday, 14 November 2025

Hamilton Zoo is poised to establish a giraffe breeding programme as they upgrade facilities and step into “the modern age of giraffe-keeping”.

Kevin, a 2½-year-old giraffe from Christchurch, settled into his new home at the zoo on Thursday after a road trip across the country from Orana Wildlife Park.

Kevin, named by a public vote in Canterbury, joins the zoo’s two male giraffes, Masamba (22) and Jabali (2).

Prior to his move, Kevin was the only male giraffe in Orana Park’s herd — a key factor for his move to Hamilton Zoo — after his father, Mabuti, died in 2021.

Te Kaaroro Nature Precinct director, Dr Baird Fleming, said as they upgraded their facilities the zoo would investigate starting a breeding herd.

“With some of the recent land acquisition and the fact that we're about to build a brand new fit for purpose, barn for giraffe, we intend to look very closely at the opportunity to get into breeding as well.”

The new facilities would include purpose-built, two storey giraffe barns. The zoo would also be expanding its savannah enclosure.

Asked if Kevin’s arrival marked a new era for Hamilton Zoo, Fleming said that any newcomer was important and that Kevin’s arrival was “very significant”.

“It's really important for us zoos to remember that we're part of a community and that, you know, if we are going to maintain species under human care. And a lot of that is reliant on making sure that we're doing proper breeding, that we're looking at the science of genetics, we're looking at the science of husbandry, and we're constantly improving things.“

Traditionally, the zoo had kept a “bachelor herd” because their facilities were not suitable for breeding giraffes.

“But now that Hamilton City Council has taken steps to bring us into the modern age of giraffe keeping, then it's something that we could potentially explore,” Fleming said.

For now though, the Hamilton Zoo team alongside three of his keepers from Orana Park, are focused on getting Kevin settled into his new home.

Ungulate keeper Grace Hinton said despite recent rain the young giraffe seemed “to have settled in well”.

“The other giraffes seem quite interested in him, which is exciting. It looks like they're going to be quite good buddies in the future, which is exciting.”

Ungulate senior keeper Josh de Waard said the next step would be settling Kevin into his new habitat and introducing him to the rest of the herd.

“We want to make sure it's all positive and, they get to like sniff each other, lick each other, all things like that, and we've actually been seeing some really positive, interactions between them so far, which is really cool.”

For Orana Park exotic mammal keeper Phoebe Grant, who has been a part of Kevin’s care since he was born, saying goodbye would be bitter sweet but she was really happy to see him move on to the next stage of his life“.

“It's been a fantastic experience, and I know he's going to be well looked after here.“