BOISE -- Zoo Boise is welcoming a new addition.
Tafari the giraffe arrived in Boise this weekend as a transfer from the Milwaukee County Zoo in Wisconsin. The two-year-old male giraffe is already settling in to his new home, zoo officials say.
Tafari can be seen in the African Plains Exhibit, alongside eight-year-old giraffe Jabari.
Boiseans pitched in more than $20,000 in May to bring Tafari to Boise as part of Idaho Gives Day. Falling temperatures last week made Tafari's transport - a cross-country trek in a specialized trailer - safe, zoo officials say.
“This is an exciting time for Zoo Boise and everyone in the Boise community,” Zoo Boise Director Steve Burns said. "This new addition enhances our educational efforts and will help further our conservation mission at the zoo. Tafari is a great fit for Zoo Boise and we can’t wait for the community to meet him.”
Zoo Boise began looking for a second giraffe in the spring after Julius Longfellow, the zoo's beloved 11-year-old giraffe, had to be euthanized after a fall.
Zookeepers worried Jabari, who remained the only giraffe in the exhibit, would grow lonely after the death of his companion: Giraffes are herd creatures, and are not accustomed to spending their days alone.
Zoo Boise's membership in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums allowed it to petition other zoos across the country for an available giraffe to join Zoo Boise. Plans to bring in Tafari, who was living as part of a larger herd in the Milwaukee zoo, were announced in May.