<em>By Aimee S. Fannon, Head Giraffe Keeper,
Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, Fort Wayne, IN</em>

<strong>Introduction</strong>
In October 2010, after much training and hard work, Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo’s herd of 1.6 reticulated giraffe (<em>Giraffe camelopardalis</em>) entered a new facility of their own free will. This long awaited move for the zoo’s seven giraffe took careful planning and execution by the giraffe staff.  The old barn had been inadequate for some time:  spaces were crowded, shifting was a challenge, and training opportunities were extremely limited.  In the winter of 2010, we received a very generous donation that enabled us to build a new giraffe facility.  We were overjoyed, but realized that we had a lot of hard work ahead of us.  The new barn, by Fauna Research, was to be built on the opposite side of the giraffe’s outdoor exhibit space. There would be a chute area/exercise yard that leads from the exhibit to the new barn. The new facility would be four times larger than the old barn, and would be complete with a Fauna Research Giraffe Tamer®.  It would improve the care of our herd (and the sanity of our keepers!) in a multitude of ways. There was one thing we knew for sure: we wanted the herd to walk into the new barn of their own free will. Each giraffe has his or her own personality, and getting them to enter the barn would require considering each giraffe’s individual challenges and needs.  The herd consists of Jelani, the somewhat fearless bull; the natural herd leader and oldest giraffe Zuri; her calf, Zahra; and four-year-old Mystic. Also in the herd is Kali, another older female; Luna, Mystic’s half-sister; and Luna’s calf, Kesi. As anyone who works with giraffe knows, asking them to follow a keeper into a giant, shiny, new barn was like asking them to follow a keeper off of a cliff.  It would take a lot of patience and understanding, but we gave the herd the best tools we could. Utilizing these tools and the strong bond of trust between giraffe and keepers, the move was safe and successful.

<strong>Challenges</strong>
We faced many overwhelming challenges in the move.  The barn was not completed until October, which left us racing against time and the impending Indiana winter to get the giraffe moved into the new building.  The entrance to the new barn was on the opposite side of the exhibit.  The herd spent most of their time at the hayracks and public feeding platform, both of which are at the front of the exhibit.  They only occasionally ventured to the back of the exhibit.  Due to the ongoing construction, there were loud noises, large equipment, and strange people surrounding the area every day. We have protected contact with our giraffe, so we could not always go where we were asking them to go.  Every night the giraffe returned to their old barn, and the whole process was started anew the next day. Then there was the largest challenge of all: Kali and Luna.  When Kali arrived at our zoo at age 15, she was overwhelmed with the changes around her.  While she was fine in the barn and exercise yard, she refused to enter the exhibit, despite strong encouragement.  She remained at the barn while watching the others go to and from exhibit every day for five years.  But she wasn’t alone.  When Luna and Mystic arrived in 2007, Luna quickly bonded with Kali.  Both have extremely cautious personalities, even for giraffe.  Keepers were unable to get Luna to follow the others to the exhibit.  She stayed at the barn for three years.  We wanted them all to cross the exhibit and enter the new barn willingly, but how could we do that when two members of herd had never even been into the exhibit?
Many ideas were implemented to help get Luna and Kali to go to the exhibit.  While there would be periods of great improvement, there was never complete success.  In early June 2010, we decided to request the aid of Steve Martin and Wouter Stellaard of Natural Encounters, Inc.  They had experience with the situation, and shared with us the desire to get Luna and Kali to join the others.  Not only did we want to improve their quality of life, but we wanted the process to be as positive as possible. With the expertise of Steve and Wouter, we were able to use a mild aversive in the most positive way possible.  We created a “moveable wall” by securing tarps to long pieces of narrow, plastic pipe.  Several people were required for the process, but we tried to place the giraffe keepers at the entrance to the exhibit.  We wanted to be something positive (like the rest of the herd awaiting them in the exhibit) for them to move toward. We created two “walls”, each carried by two people (one on each end).  We worked with Kali and Luna separately.  We closed off the area completely to the public. Once the individual giraffe was in the exercise and had access to the exhibit, keepers would enter the space at the back of the yard.  The walls were rolled up and kept horizontal. We observed the giraffe’s reaction.  If the giraffe moved a step toward the exhibit, we did not move at all. If the giraffe moved toward the back of the yard, we all took a step forward.

This process was broken down into multiple levels.  Each level increased the use of walls in small increments.  For example, if the giraffe took another step toward us, we moved the walls into an upright position while keeping them rolled up.  If the giraffe moved toward the exhibit, the keepers stopped.  If the giraffe came toward the back of the yard, the keepers began to slowly unfurl the walls.  Every time the giraffe took a step toward the walls, the keepers took a step toward the giraffe.  This was so the giraffe had freedom in the situation.  We were giving them the chance to join the others on their own.  We did not force them out or frighten them.  If Kali or Luna became distressed, we stopped immediately and retreated from the yard.  Kali responded to this quickly, and walked into the exhibit within approximately 20 to 30 minutes.  Luna took a bit longer, but did enter the exhibit that same day.  Both were fairly calm, seemed comforted to be reunited with the herd, and began exploring the exhibit.  Through much training, patience, and trust, we were finally able to get both Luna and Kali on exhibit. It was a more emotional experience for the staff than it was for Luna and Kali themselves.  This process did have to be used on increasingly smaller scales as Kali and Luna eventually began to follow the herd to the exhibit without encouragement from keepers.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2081" title="giraffe_barn1" src="http://aecetia.net/gws/aazk/wp-content/uploads/giraffe_barn1.jpg" alt="giraffe_barn1" width="299" height="452" />Kalahari or “Kali” exits the new bar (Photo: Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo)

While this was a very detailed and planned process, and this brief description may not give it full justice, our main goal was to keep the experience as positive for Kali and Luna as possible.  However, on Luna’s second day on exhibit, she went into labor. On 3 June 2010, she delivered her first calf, Kesi.  She would need to spend a considerable amount of time in the barn with her calf. Luna proved to be an extremely cautious and fiercely protective mother. Now the concern rose that when it was time to join the others, Luna’s training would have been lost, as much time had passed.  If Luna did not go to the exhibit again, that meant Kesi would not go either.  Fortunately, that was not the case.  Luna and Kesi did join the others on exhibit.  There were easy days and rough days, but Luna, Kali, and Kesi soon settled into the routine. Kali discovered the feeding platform and some adoring fans.  She seemed to have a newfound confidence in herself.  Now that the entire herd was in the exhibit, we were ready for the next stage of training.

One Step at a Time
We began the next phase of training several months in advance. We wanted the site for the future entrance to the new barn to be a very positive place. Initially, we started out by offering…….

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