Celebrate World Giraffe Day at Franklin Park Zoo

Visit Franklin Park Zoo on Saturday, June 23, to celebrate the fifth annual World Giraffe Day! Over the past 30 years, giraffe numbers have steadily declined by 40% in the wild with an estimated 100,000 giraffes remaining in Africa. This worldwide event is meant to raise support, create awareness and provide a deeper understanding of the challenges that these animals face in the wild.

There will also be activites and zookeeper encounters throughout the day, which are perfect opportunities to ask questions and learn more about the giraffes that call Franklin Park Zoo home.

Zoo New England is deeply committed to the conservation of these majestic animals and is an active participant in the Giraffe Species Survival Plan (SSP) – a cooperative, inter-zoo program coordinated nationally through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). SSPs are designed to maintain genetically diverse and demographically stable captive populations of species. Giraffes are also an AZA SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) species, a program that protects threatened animals through education, scientific research, field work, public awareness, and action. Zoo New England has been proud to support a variety of projects dedicated to giraffe conservation in the wild.