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Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
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While all giraffe have beautiful, one-of-a-kind spot patterns, behaviors, and sizes, it can still be tricky to tell them apart! Get to know the CMZoo giraffe tower, from their unique physical features to their individual behaviors. Then, see if you can spot each one in the brand-new Giraffe Center during your next visit to CMZoo!
Khari
Khari [KAH-ree]
Age: Ten months
Birthday: November 2, 2025
Distinguishing features: Khari is currently the smallest giraffe in the herd and has dark cinnamon features.
Fast Facts: The newest and youngest member of the herd, Khari is curious and bold. As our future breeding bull, he’ll eventually play an important role in the herd’s next generation. For now, he’s busy growing, exploring his new home, getting to know his herdmates, and showing off his enthusiasm for browse — he really knows how to rip leaves off those branches!
Thorn
Thorn
Age: One
Birthday: March 7, 2025
Distinguishing features: Thorn is one of the smaller giraffes in the herd and has especially pointy ears and two spots stacked on top of each other on the side of his neck.
Fast Facts: One of the herd’s youngest members, Thorn, is curious, confident, and always ready to investigate something new. He was the first giraffe to venture into the new Giraffe Center when the herd was given access! Thorn’s family tree also runs deep at CMZoo. His mom, BB, was born here, and his grandfather was legendary breeding bull Khalid, who passed away in December 2025. Thorn is also good friends with Ohe — they often follow each other around and hang out together.
Kinda
Kinda (rhymes with Linda)
Age: Three
Birthday: August 19, 2023
Distinguishing features: She’s easy to spot in the herd because she’s one of the smallest giraffe and has a darker brown coat than the other littles.
Fast Facts: Kinda is curious, outgoing and one of the most confident members of the herd. She typically loves spending time with the younger giraffe and Tumbili! Despite Kinda being one of the shortest giraffe while Tumbili is one of the tallest, they’re often side by side. Kinda also loves training with her care team, where she’s learning important behaviors like hoof care and blood draws. She’s incredibly smart and food-motivated, and she’s always looking for creative ways to earn her treats — even occasionally trying to sneak a little extra from the keeper’s bucket! Her confidence and trusting relationship with her care team helped her easily integrate into the herd.
Wednesday
Age: Three
Birthday: October 19, 2022
Distinguishing features: Wednesday has one of the lightest faces in the herd, with her spot pattern fading in color from her neck up to her cheeks and ossicones.
Fast Facts: Wednesday has been a pro trainer since she was little. She participates in husbandry behaviors, like injection and hoof-care training, and, as far as we know, she’s the youngest giraffe ever to voluntarily participate in a blood draw. Wednesday is also very curious and seems to enjoy eating, training, and getting the zoomies with the other youngsters in the herd. She and Kay have developed a close bestie relationship.
Kay
Age: Four
Birthday: February 27, 2022
Distinguishing features: She’s often easy to spot when she and her bestie, Wednesday, are together, as Kay has a darker cinnamon tone.
Fast Facts: Kay is an all-in kind of giraffe. Kay is confident, interested in her surroundings, and always ready to interact with her care team and guests. Kay is very bold and tends to be the giraffe who explores new spaces and enrichment first. She loves taking lettuce from guests and enjoys participating in training sessions, usually while hanging out with her bestie, Wednesday.
Viv
Viv
Age: Seven
Birthday: July 6, 2019
Distinguishing features: Viv is easy to spot by the butterfly-shaped marking on the front of her neck, her whiter face, and her especially symmetrical ears and ossicones.
Fast Facts: Viv was born just a few days after the Fourth of July and has certainly lived up to her nickname, “Firecracker”! She showed off her energy from the very beginning, leap-frogging over her mom’s back while her mom was lying down just six hours after she was born. That same “firecracker” energy has stayed with her as she’s grown. Viv is confident, curious, strong, and independent, and she’s always interested in what’s happening around her, whether she’s interacting with guests, her care team, or the rest of the herd.
Ohe [oh-HEE]
Age: Eight
Birthday: July 22, 2018
Distinguishing features: As the only Nubian giraffe in the herd, Ohe stands out with his darker coloring, wider-set eyes, and tall, muscular build.
Fast Facts: Ohe has earned a reputation as the herd’s “big brother” or “uncle,” especially with the younger giraffe. He loves spending time with the calves and often follows Thorn around as he explores. He’s especially fun to watch explore the brand-new Giraffe Center, where he enjoys splashing in puddles and the waterhole, walking beneath the hanging browse, and even jumping and kicking his legs out like he’s frolicking. Ohe enjoys having a little space between himself and guests, but he’s interested in interacting from a comfortable distance — especially when snacks are involved!
Bailey
Age: Fourteen
Birthday: March 16, 2012
Distinguishing features: Bailey has two symmetrical shapes on the front of her shoulders and two identical spots on her chest, resembling two shark fins.
Fast Facts: Bailey is a superstar at CMZoo. She is the mother of two daughters, BB, who lives at Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, and Wednesday, and is a grandmother to Thorn! Bailey is brave, intelligent, and always eager to learn and participate in training sessions with her care team. She is also one of our giraffe trained to participate in blood draws. Blood samples collected from Bailey have directly supported giraffe conservation by allowing the Giraffe Center team to test the dosing and longevity of a medication that could help wild giraffe combat skin disease.
Turnbill on top, Bailey below
Tumbili [toom-BEE-lee]
Age: Sixteen
Birthday: March 24, 2010
Distinguishing features: Other than being the tallest giraffe in the herd, he has three narrow spots on his chest, with the two on the left side shaped like an hourglass. He also has the shortest ossicones in the herd.
Fast Facts: If you’ve had the opportunity to feed our giraffe herd, chances are you’ve met Tumbili! He has a big presence and is often one of the first giraffe to greet guests and take lettuce. Tumbili is incredibly smart and curious, which makes training sessions with him especially engaging for his care team. He’s a great problem-solver and is often several steps ahead of his care team, sometimes finding creative ways to complete a behavior and earn his favorite rewards. His curiosity extends beyond training, too. Tumbili is often eager to investigate new enrichment items and whatever his care team is working on.
Msitu [muh-SEE’-too]
Age: Seventeen
Birthday: February 5, 2009
Distinguishing features: You can also tell her apart from the rest of the herd by her cinnamon coloring and wide ossicones.
Fast Facts: Msitu is one of the most outgoing giraffe in the herd and is often one of the first to greet guests at lettuce feeding areas. If you’ve been enthusiastically approached by a giraffe while feeding the herd on the boardwalk, chances are good it was Msitu. She’s also a star at training, where she excels at hoof care and is a pro at participating in blood draws. Blood collected from Msitu is donated to the Giraffe Plasma Bank, helping support giraffe health and conservation. Msitu is also an experienced mom — she has had three calves, including Viv, who still lives here at CMZoo!
Azmera
Azmera
Age: Nineteen
Birthday: July 24, 2007
Distinguishing features: One of the easiest ways to spot Azmera is by the unique shape of her ossicones, which form a triangle almost like the letter “A.” She’s also one of the smallest adult female giraffe at CMZoo and has distinctive double-diamond markings on her chest.
Fast Facts: Azmera is part of the “golden gang” of aging giraffe, along with Lakeisha and Amani. Azmera takes time to build trust, but once that bond is formed, she develops a strong relationship with her care team and confidently participates in training and important healthcare behaviors. She’s a quick learner who knows exactly what she wants, whether she’s earning a favorite snack or letting her keepers know when she’s ready for a break. Her care team especially loves her adorable floppy ears, which often droop when she’s resting.
Lakeisha
Age: Twenty-six
Birthday: March 9, 2000
Distinguishing features: Keep an eye out for these three clues to spot her in the herd: a little bump on her nose, a bow-tie-shaped spot pattern on her chest, and ossicones that sit close together.
Fast Facts: Lakeisha is part of the “golden gang” of aging giraffe and is the second-oldest giraffe in the herd. Recently, she was the first giraffe to venture into the renovated and expanded yards connected to the Giraffe Center! Lakeisha has a unique way of taking lettuce from guests. When she reaches up to gently grab a piece, she often shows her bottom teeth, giving her the appearance of smiling as she eats. She’s also very patient, waiting her turn instead of pushing other giraffe out of the way. You may even see just the tip of her tongue peeking out as she waits for a tasty piece of browse or lettuce.
Amani
Age: Twenty-six
Birthday: December 13, 1999
Distinguishing features: Some of Amani’s distinguishing features include her dark, bushy ossicones and dark face. She also has a distinctive rectangle-shaped marking on her chest and is one of the largest giraffe in the herd.
Fast Facts: Amani, the oldest golden gal in the herd, lives up to her name, which means “peace” in Swahili. She’s calm and patient during training sessions with her care team, while interacting with the herd and when gently taking lettuce from guests. As she’s gotten older, Amani has developed some age-related discomfort, and her care team provides her with pain medication to help keep her comfortable. Even so, she continues to participate in important healthcare behaviors, including hoof care and blood draw training. Despite being one of the largest giraffe in the herd, Amani is gentle and patiently waits her turn for lettuce. She’s also especially good with the giraffe calves and has a close bond with her best friend, Lakeisha, who she grew up with.
The post Who’s Who? Get to Know CMZoo’s Giraffe Herd appeared first on CMZoo.
Khari
Khari [KAH-ree]
Age: Ten months
Birthday: November 2, 2025
Distinguishing features: Khari is currently the smallest giraffe in the herd and has dark cinnamon features.
Fast Facts: The newest and youngest member of the herd, Khari is curious and bold. As our future breeding bull, he’ll eventually play an important role in the herd’s next generation. For now, he’s busy growing, exploring his new home, getting to know his herdmates, and showing off his enthusiasm for browse — he really knows how to rip leaves off those branches!
Thorn
Thorn
Age: One
Birthday: March 7, 2025
Distinguishing features: Thorn is one of the smaller giraffes in the herd and has especially pointy ears and two spots stacked on top of each other on the side of his neck.
Fast Facts: One of the herd’s youngest members, Thorn, is curious, confident, and always ready to investigate something new. He was the first giraffe to venture into the new Giraffe Center when the herd was given access! Thorn’s family tree also runs deep at CMZoo. His mom, BB, was born here, and his grandfather was legendary breeding bull Khalid, who passed away in December 2025. Thorn is also good friends with Ohe — they often follow each other around and hang out together.
Kinda
Kinda (rhymes with Linda)
Age: Three
Birthday: August 19, 2023
Distinguishing features: She’s easy to spot in the herd because she’s one of the smallest giraffe and has a darker brown coat than the other littles.
Fast Facts: Kinda is curious, outgoing and one of the most confident members of the herd. She typically loves spending time with the younger giraffe and Tumbili! Despite Kinda being one of the shortest giraffe while Tumbili is one of the tallest, they’re often side by side. Kinda also loves training with her care team, where she’s learning important behaviors like hoof care and blood draws. She’s incredibly smart and food-motivated, and she’s always looking for creative ways to earn her treats — even occasionally trying to sneak a little extra from the keeper’s bucket! Her confidence and trusting relationship with her care team helped her easily integrate into the herd.
Wednesday
Age: Three
Birthday: October 19, 2022
Distinguishing features: Wednesday has one of the lightest faces in the herd, with her spot pattern fading in color from her neck up to her cheeks and ossicones.
Fast Facts: Wednesday has been a pro trainer since she was little. She participates in husbandry behaviors, like injection and hoof-care training, and, as far as we know, she’s the youngest giraffe ever to voluntarily participate in a blood draw. Wednesday is also very curious and seems to enjoy eating, training, and getting the zoomies with the other youngsters in the herd. She and Kay have developed a close bestie relationship.
Kay
Age: Four
Birthday: February 27, 2022
Distinguishing features: She’s often easy to spot when she and her bestie, Wednesday, are together, as Kay has a darker cinnamon tone.
Fast Facts: Kay is an all-in kind of giraffe. Kay is confident, interested in her surroundings, and always ready to interact with her care team and guests. Kay is very bold and tends to be the giraffe who explores new spaces and enrichment first. She loves taking lettuce from guests and enjoys participating in training sessions, usually while hanging out with her bestie, Wednesday.
Viv
Viv
Age: Seven
Birthday: July 6, 2019
Distinguishing features: Viv is easy to spot by the butterfly-shaped marking on the front of her neck, her whiter face, and her especially symmetrical ears and ossicones.
Fast Facts: Viv was born just a few days after the Fourth of July and has certainly lived up to her nickname, “Firecracker”! She showed off her energy from the very beginning, leap-frogging over her mom’s back while her mom was lying down just six hours after she was born. That same “firecracker” energy has stayed with her as she’s grown. Viv is confident, curious, strong, and independent, and she’s always interested in what’s happening around her, whether she’s interacting with guests, her care team, or the rest of the herd.
Ohe [oh-HEE]
Age: Eight
Birthday: July 22, 2018
Distinguishing features: As the only Nubian giraffe in the herd, Ohe stands out with his darker coloring, wider-set eyes, and tall, muscular build.
Fast Facts: Ohe has earned a reputation as the herd’s “big brother” or “uncle,” especially with the younger giraffe. He loves spending time with the calves and often follows Thorn around as he explores. He’s especially fun to watch explore the brand-new Giraffe Center, where he enjoys splashing in puddles and the waterhole, walking beneath the hanging browse, and even jumping and kicking his legs out like he’s frolicking. Ohe enjoys having a little space between himself and guests, but he’s interested in interacting from a comfortable distance — especially when snacks are involved!
Bailey
Age: Fourteen
Birthday: March 16, 2012
Distinguishing features: Bailey has two symmetrical shapes on the front of her shoulders and two identical spots on her chest, resembling two shark fins.
Fast Facts: Bailey is a superstar at CMZoo. She is the mother of two daughters, BB, who lives at Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, and Wednesday, and is a grandmother to Thorn! Bailey is brave, intelligent, and always eager to learn and participate in training sessions with her care team. She is also one of our giraffe trained to participate in blood draws. Blood samples collected from Bailey have directly supported giraffe conservation by allowing the Giraffe Center team to test the dosing and longevity of a medication that could help wild giraffe combat skin disease.
Turnbill on top, Bailey below
Tumbili [toom-BEE-lee]
Age: Sixteen
Birthday: March 24, 2010
Distinguishing features: Other than being the tallest giraffe in the herd, he has three narrow spots on his chest, with the two on the left side shaped like an hourglass. He also has the shortest ossicones in the herd.
Fast Facts: If you’ve had the opportunity to feed our giraffe herd, chances are you’ve met Tumbili! He has a big presence and is often one of the first giraffe to greet guests and take lettuce. Tumbili is incredibly smart and curious, which makes training sessions with him especially engaging for his care team. He’s a great problem-solver and is often several steps ahead of his care team, sometimes finding creative ways to complete a behavior and earn his favorite rewards. His curiosity extends beyond training, too. Tumbili is often eager to investigate new enrichment items and whatever his care team is working on.
Msitu [muh-SEE’-too]
Age: Seventeen
Birthday: February 5, 2009
Distinguishing features: You can also tell her apart from the rest of the herd by her cinnamon coloring and wide ossicones.
Fast Facts: Msitu is one of the most outgoing giraffe in the herd and is often one of the first to greet guests at lettuce feeding areas. If you’ve been enthusiastically approached by a giraffe while feeding the herd on the boardwalk, chances are good it was Msitu. She’s also a star at training, where she excels at hoof care and is a pro at participating in blood draws. Blood collected from Msitu is donated to the Giraffe Plasma Bank, helping support giraffe health and conservation. Msitu is also an experienced mom — she has had three calves, including Viv, who still lives here at CMZoo!
Azmera
Azmera
Age: Nineteen
Birthday: July 24, 2007
Distinguishing features: One of the easiest ways to spot Azmera is by the unique shape of her ossicones, which form a triangle almost like the letter “A.” She’s also one of the smallest adult female giraffe at CMZoo and has distinctive double-diamond markings on her chest.
Fast Facts: Azmera is part of the “golden gang” of aging giraffe, along with Lakeisha and Amani. Azmera takes time to build trust, but once that bond is formed, she develops a strong relationship with her care team and confidently participates in training and important healthcare behaviors. She’s a quick learner who knows exactly what she wants, whether she’s earning a favorite snack or letting her keepers know when she’s ready for a break. Her care team especially loves her adorable floppy ears, which often droop when she’s resting.
Lakeisha
Age: Twenty-six
Birthday: March 9, 2000
Distinguishing features: Keep an eye out for these three clues to spot her in the herd: a little bump on her nose, a bow-tie-shaped spot pattern on her chest, and ossicones that sit close together.
Fast Facts: Lakeisha is part of the “golden gang” of aging giraffe and is the second-oldest giraffe in the herd. Recently, she was the first giraffe to venture into the renovated and expanded yards connected to the Giraffe Center! Lakeisha has a unique way of taking lettuce from guests. When she reaches up to gently grab a piece, she often shows her bottom teeth, giving her the appearance of smiling as she eats. She’s also very patient, waiting her turn instead of pushing other giraffe out of the way. You may even see just the tip of her tongue peeking out as she waits for a tasty piece of browse or lettuce.
Amani
Age: Twenty-six
Birthday: December 13, 1999
Distinguishing features: Some of Amani’s distinguishing features include her dark, bushy ossicones and dark face. She also has a distinctive rectangle-shaped marking on her chest and is one of the largest giraffe in the herd.
Fast Facts: Amani, the oldest golden gal in the herd, lives up to her name, which means “peace” in Swahili. She’s calm and patient during training sessions with her care team, while interacting with the herd and when gently taking lettuce from guests. As she’s gotten older, Amani has developed some age-related discomfort, and her care team provides her with pain medication to help keep her comfortable. Even so, she continues to participate in important healthcare behaviors, including hoof care and blood draw training. Despite being one of the largest giraffe in the herd, Amani is gentle and patiently waits her turn for lettuce. She’s also especially good with the giraffe calves and has a close bond with her best friend, Lakeisha, who she grew up with.
The post Who’s Who? Get to Know CMZoo’s Giraffe Herd appeared first on CMZoo.