Young giraffe at Woodland Park Zoo to leave for a new home

Hasani, a giraffe born at Woodland Park Zoo in May 2019, will be leaving Seattle for a new home in Texas.

The nearly 1.5 year-old giraffe was born to parents Olivia and Dave. The other giraffe at Woodland Park Zoo is the younger sister of Olivia, named Tufani.

Hasani gained international fame as he was diagnosed just hours after his birth with abnormalities in his rear legs from a condition known as hyperextended fetlocks. His story of “struggle, and ultimately triumph,” the zoo says, touched the hearts of kids and adults across the world. Had he been born in the wild, he would not have survived without the ability to nurse and follow his mom, to avoid predators or forage for food.

“Hasani showed a lot of spunk from the moment he was born — he never gave up. And neither did we,” said Dr. Tim Storms, an associate veterinarian at Woodland Park Zoo. “Thanks to our animal health and giraffe teams who worked around the clock to successfully treat and resolve Hasani’s medical condition, including a Kentucky-based equine veterinarian who specializes in foot conditions, we are able to send a healthy giraffe, who can walk and run like all giraffes, to a new home. We will miss this brave giraffe.”

Right now, Hasani weighs close to 1,300 pounds and is 13 feet tall. This is the natural age for a giraffe calf to leave its herd, the zoo says, and Woodland Park Zoo can only be home to one male at a time. If Hasani were to stay, he would have to be managed separately, according to Martin Ramirez, mammal curator at the zoo.

“Hasani will continue to receive excellent care at his new home and a new female is expected to join him later this fall,” Ramirez said.

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The young giraffe will move to a private facility in Merkel, Texas, which is home to other exotic species but not open to the public. In an editor’s note posted Oct. 12 to the original blog post about Hasani’s move, the zoo said the Texas facility and breeding center, which “does not have a name because it is a breeding center that is not open to the public,” “has been vetted by Woodland Park Zoo animal care experts.”

At this time, Woodland Park Zoo says there was no placement available for Hasani at a facility with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). In cases where AZA placement is not possible, Woodland Park Zoo has a vetting process for non-AZA organizations. The facility where Hasani will be placed is owned by an organization licensed by the USDA, which administers and enforces the federal Animal Welfare Act of 1964. The editor’s note adds that the breeding center supports the AZA Species Survival Plans.

The owners of the Texas facility also own Hemker Park Zoo in Minnesota, which “is well-regarded in the AZA community.”

“In order [to] ensure a safe and healthy home for Hasani, a Woodland Park Zoo curator with decades of experience visited the new location in Texas weeks ago to specifically tour the space, meet the staff and we consulted references,” the editor’s note on the zoo’s blog post reads. “His visit confirmed that the facility complies with Woodland Park Zoo’s standards, USDA standards, and AZA protocols that ensure excellent animal care. Hasani will have access to 10 acres of beautiful grounds plus a state-of-the-art barn for shelter.”

To get to Texas, Hasani will travel in a ventilated livestock trailer with an extended top, “driven by a mover with extensive experience in animal transport.”

The last day to visit Hasani at Woodland Park Zoo was Sunday, Oct. 18.