Young giraffe celebrates first birthday at Santa Barbara Zoo
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Santa Barbara Zoo is celebrating a special birthday this Saturday, young Twiga the Masai giraffe is turning one year old!
Twiga was born March 27, 2020, to first-time mother Adia and eight-time father Michael.
The not-so-little guy measured in at six feet tall and 125.5 pounds when he was first born. Now, the zoo said he's grown to be over 10 feet tall and weighs an impressive 808 pounds.
"At a time when people needed some extra joy in their lives, in came Twiga with his adorableness and giraffe zoomies," the zoo said in an Instagram post.
To celebrate his special day, zookeepers Ariel and Veronica made Twiga a special treat of mulberry leaves, willow leaves, carrots and biscuits. A video of Twiga enjoying his "cake" can be viewed on the zoo's Instagram.
Pronounced "TWEE-gah", the baby giraffe was named after a Swahili word that translates to "giraffe".
His zoo keeper, Ariel, said Twiga is very smart and brave and loves exploring his giraffe yard.
The zoo said his birth was very important for carrying on rare and valuable genes that are vital to keeping the Masai giraffe population genetically diverse and healthy.
Masai giraffes are currently endangered. If you would like to donate to the Santa Barbara Zoo and find out how you can help support this beautiful species, visit www.sbzoo.org.
