Reticulated Giraffe are now only found in north-eastern Kenya, eastern Sudan and Eritrea. Their overall height of around 4.57m (15ft) and excellent eyesight allows them visual contact with others in the herd, which can be spread over 0.8 km (1/2 mile). To drink, a giraffe spreads its front legs to allow its head to get to water, and it can stretch high into foliage for food. Calves are born after a gestation period of roughly 14 months with a minimum interval of 16 months between calves. At Knowsley we manage a bachelor group, the addition of a female would result in serious aggression amongst the males. We have 3 male giraffe and they are called Jester, Oliver and Rigsby. Oliver and Rigsby are full brothers and Jester is their half-brother (they all have the same father). Jester was born 13/05/2000 Oliver was born 08/06/2000 Rigsby was born 07/11/2001 Oliver and Rigsby were hand reared and Jester was parent reared. All 3 were born at Chester Zoo. All them love to browse on willow. It is difficult to weigh and measure the giraffe but we estimate ours at between 16.5 and 17 feet tall and weighing in at around 1000kg.

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