AL AIN : In a jubilant and fun atmosphere, Al Ain Zoo celebrated the 13th birthday of Janu the giraffe while Guests and staff joined the celebrations along with Janu’s giraffe friends and family.
Mohammed Yousef Al Faqeer, Head of Ungulates Unit in the Life Sciences Department at Al Ain Zoo said: “ Janu was born in Al Ain Zoo, our guests have chosen this unique name for her which means “sweetheart” due to her popularity among both staff and visitors, colleagues at ungulates unit have decided to celebrate this special occasion with Janu as well as guests and other members of staff to add more positivity, especially under current circumstances imposed by COVID-19, leaving both guests and staff members with wide smiles on their faces.”
“On this very special occasion, we offered Janu a host of fun activities, a welcome banner, toys, a giraffe figurine, and more importantly a lovely birthday cake, in addition to that, a specially designed photo booth was set up for the celebration allowing guests to join Janu for a special birthday picture to commemorate this unforgettable day”.
Janu belongs to Rothschild’s giraffe subspecies, which is, due to urbanization and poaching is now listedas a vulnerable animal on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, To address this, Al Ain Zoo has implemented a number of strategies and made efforts to conserve the species providing it with a similar living environment to its natural habitat in the wild.
This is not the first time Al Ain Zoo celebrated the birthday of one of its animals, most notable of these celebrations was when Lady Gorilla celebrated her 40th birthday.
Al Faqeer added: “Rothschild’s giraffes often live up to 25 years in the wild, while in captivity ,where giraffes get adequate care and attentions, their lifespan can extend well beyond that, which is what we wish for our sweetheart Janu.”