Giraffe, Kito from Dudley Zoo has celebrated his first birthday with a homemade vegie cake.
Kito was happy to share his treat with family members as Team Leader, Jay Haywood explained, “We made a special cake using beets which we will be handing out to Kito, mum Mia, dad Kubwa and auntie Josie later today.”
Born after a 460 day pregnancy, Kito has a unique coat unlike any other giraffe which is much like a fingerprint. Then name Kito means precious in Swahili.
He has also been popular with visitors as Haywood explained, “Kito is a really popular boy and has lots of adopters – we can’t believe how quickly the past year has gone, it certainly doesn’t seem 12 months ago that we were waiting for him to be born and now here he is celebrating his first birthday!”
Rothschild’s giraffes are the world’s rarest giraffe subspecies with the International Union for Conservation of Nature listing them as endangered. They are found throughout Uganda and Kenya. Habitat degradation, poaching and conflict in their natural range have led to their demise.
You can watch a video of their celebrations below:
Photo Credits: Dudley Zoo
