Giraffe Encounter Take your animal experience to new heights!

Giraffe Encounter

Come and meet the newest additions to herd, Chich and Oz! At just a year old, these curious young giraffes are the latest additions to the educational animal opportunities at the park. Chich and Oz can be seen along with the other two adult giraffes at Giraffe Encounter, exploring and adapting to their new home. You may be thinking, how do we tell them apart? Chich is the larger of the two giraffes, weighing in at about 800lbs, while Oz on the other hand is about 500lbs. These babies are easy to spot once next to one of the much taller adults giraffes.

In a quiet corner of the park next to the waters of Lake Chabot is home for reticulated giraffe. As the tallest living land animal, the giraffe stands head and tails above the rest. Of the nine subspecies of giraffe, reticulated are the most commonly seen, recognized by the large, polygonal spots outlined in white lines. Did you know that every giraffe has a unique pattern of spots, just like a human fingerprint?

The long legs and the very long neck give giraffes an impressive height allowing them access to high foliage, beyond the reach of most other larger browsers and their skin coloring provides excellent camouflage. The long eyelids keep out insects and can even sense thorns on tree branches.

Visit the giraffe dock for a chance to feed a giraffe!
You’ll see their purplish-black tongues reach for browse or produce as it stretches as long as 18 inches. Giraffes have big eyes and a powerful sense of sight, smell, and hearing.