New Cutie, Khari, Settles Into the CMZoo Giraffe Herd

[Cheyenne Mountain Zoo]

There’s a new cutie-pie at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo – a 10-month-old male reticulated giraffe named Khari (pronounced KAH-ree ). He joined the herd from Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot, North Dakota, on Thurs., Sept. 17, and he is settling in well – already taking lettuce from guests and stealing hearts along the way.

“Khari is one of five ‘littles’ at our Zoo – all under five years old – and they are so much fun to watch running around and being curious about every opportunity we can provide them in our beautiful new Giraffe Center,” Jake Beiermann, giraffe keeper, says. “We’re looking at the next generation of giraffe at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and that’s pretty exciting.”

Khari is here to fill big hooves. He came to CMZoo to be the next breeding bull, following the passing of Khalid (kuh-LEED), CMZoo’s longtime ‘Big Daddy’ breeding bull, in December 2025.

“We’re being strategic by bringing a young bull in before he’s reproductively mature,” Jake says. “Historically, we would house breeding bulls separately, typically because they’re not as socially integrated into the herd. We’re hopeful that Khari can grow up with the herd, learn the social dynamics and get lessons in manners from our confident females, so he can live with the herd longer and reduce the time he’s not with the whole herd.”

Male giraffe are reproductively mature around three years old in human care. Females in human care typically reach breeding age around four. Jake says that’s a little bit earlier than when wild giraffe reach reproductive maturity, and that happens because they are getting all of their needs met in human care and can develop and focus on reproduction sooner than wild giraffe.

Despite being the smallest in the herd, Khari already stands out. Jake calls him ‘quite bulky’ compared to some of the other giraffe, particularly noting his muscular hind legs. He has a slender, darker, caramel-colored face, and his ossicones’ top hair is still slicked back, signature for younger giraffe.

Khari has a gorgeous mane, which is longer than his herdmates’, and has sort of a ‘split mohawk’ at his shoulders. Khari’s face is darker than Thorn’s – the other little male in the herd, who has been neutered because his genetics are well represented in human care. One-year-old Thorn came to CMZoo from Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance (DZCA) in May 2026. Thorn is the son of BB, a female giraffe born at CMZoo who now lives at DZCA, and the grandson of Khalid.

“Khari hasn’t shown any hesitation going into any spaces, so we’re happy to see the recently renovated and expanded space is making him comfortable,” Jake says. “We’re really lucky that he arrived right as we opened the new Giraffe Center because he and the herd have lots of space to approach or move away from each other in ways that give them choices about who they want to spend time with and feel confident.”

Khari had met the entire herd by his fourth day on the mountain. He first met Amani, the oldest female giraffe known for her gentle nature with calves. Thorn and Khari have been seen exploring and playing together regularly. Kay, a 4-year-old giraffe, seems to be displaying a more maternal instinct for Khari. She checks on him regularly and nuzzles him, but she also initiates zoomies and playtime. Ohe (OH-hee), a playful 8-year-old male giraffe who the CMZoo community has affectionately nicknamed ‘Uncle Ohe’ because of his playful interactions with the littles, is also welcoming Khari as a new bestie. Ohe playfully nudges Khari and encourages him to zoom around with the little ones.

On his second day, Khari hung out with the younger crew – Wednesday, Kay, Kinda and Thorn – along with Ohe. Jake says ‘Uncle Ohe’ couldn’t contain his excitement, and was zooming and doing his signature ‘play kicks’ all day.

To give Khari and the herd time to rest and feel comfortable in a new space, he will be separated with a couple of other gentle giraffe while they spend the night in the Giraffe Training Center (the former full-time giraffe barn, which is now used for training, medical care, and future births). The Giraffe Training Center will allow guests to watch giraffe training up-close, and will provide warm indoor spaces in guest view for African Cape porcupines, African spurred tortoise, and Red River hogs, when they return to CMZoo.

The herd is starting to spend some nights in the new Giraffe Center, but sometimes they choose the familiarity of shifting into the Giraffe Training Center at night. The giraffe care team is also considering temperatures at night. Giraffe, especially little ones like Khari, need warmer temperatures at night when there’s no sunshine to keep them warm. When they stay in the new Giraffe Center, they have indoor and outdoor access at first – another effort to make sure the giraffe are totally comfortable in their new barn before the doors are closed behind them on colder nights.

They’re making great progress in the new space, and their care team just opened a brand-new, CMZoo-first way for guests to visit with them – the floor-level feeding area! Seeing the herd positively react to small groups visiting the floor-level feeding area in the Giraffe Center, it is now open to the public regularly. During the day, guests can stand foot-to-hoof with the herd, and get face-to-face with the littles in this innovative new experience.

“The experience of feeding a giraffe at foot level is truly amazing,” Jake says. “With a growing group of littles, it’s a great way to make connections with the shorties in the herd. The giraffe, tall and short, seem to like taking lettuce and browse from our guests in that space inside the barn.”

Guests can meet Khari and visit the herd in the newly opened Giraffe Center right away!

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