The Oakland Zoo and its staff are excited about the latest bundle of joy to join them, a giraffe named Nuru, and they're hoping visitors will be as well after meeting him.
From the moment Amy Phelps met her first giraffe, she knew right then and there, she found her higher calling. Now, as an adult, she's the manager of the African Savanna Species at the Oakland Zoo, where she takes care of six gentle giants. They don't look like they should be real, but they are," she said. These days, much of her attention is focused on one giraffe called Nuru, a recent arrival from New Orleans.
Nuru, which means "light" in Swahili, is making his public debut after spending a month in quarantine. And while it may seem like a tall tale, zookeepers hope his arrival will spark a love connection. The giraffe is the world's tallest land mammal and a prime attraction at zoos around the world. Sadly, it is also in great peril, as illegal trade and loss of habitat threaten its survival. Nuru is what is what's knowns as Reticulated Giraffe, which was designated as a threatened species in , with a little over 11, left in the wild.
The idea, Phelps said, is to have Nuru and the rest of the gang, serve as ambassadors for conservation. And it wouldn't be a stretch to say that visitors here have fallen love with the big bundle of joy who at 13 months is already 10 feet-tall.
That's what he's trying to do too," Phelps said. Oakland Zoo welcomes new male giraffe named Nuru. Featured Local Savings. More from CBS News. Oakland plans to layoff 77 city employees in struggle to balance budget.
