Bannerghatta Park welcomes Gowri, the giraffe

Come Wednesday, visitors can admire a giraffe majestically stroll in the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP).

Bengalureans now not need to travel all the way to Mysuru Zoo to catch a glimpse of the tallest mammal.

Gowri, the female giraffe travelled 143 km from Mysuru to Bengaluru zoo on Tuesday to her new abode. The journey took more than seven hours unlike other convoys as her truck faced traffic snarls, political conventions, security checks and police bandobast.

A convoy comprising of a veterinarians' team and officials left Mysuru zoo at 12.30 pm but reached Bannerghatta Zoo only after 8 pm.

"The BBP waited for six years before it received the giraffe on Tuesday. There is no need to keep her in isolation or quarantine her. Gowri will be on display for people from Wednesday. She is used to the captive surroundings and so will have no problem in adjusting," said the BBP Executive Director R Gokul.

Gowri was born on December 19, 2015, to Krishnaraja and Lakshmi in Mysuru zoo. She stands 13.5 feet tall and is healthy.
She will be the lone giraffe in BBP. To ensure that she has company, the BBP management has intensified their search for more giraffes under the animal exchange programme.

In BBP, she will be housed a three-acre landscape, specially designed for her, next to the zebra enclosure.

The BBP management said that the giraffe was supposed to reach 15 days back, but it could not materialise. It is because she refused to enter the cage at the last minute. But on Tuesday, the moment she entered the cage, the Mysuru zoo management closed the gates and loaded it onto a truck.