- Perth Zoo's giraffe calf has been named Kamili, meaning perfection in Swahili
- The name was chosen from hundreds submitted via a public competition
Perth Zoo's four-week-old female giraffe calf has been named Kamili.
The name is Swahili for perfection and was chosen from hundreds of entries submitted by a public naming competition.
The new female giraffe is the result of successful matchmaking between Perth Zoo's breeding bull, Armani and female Kitoto, who was brought to Perth from Sydney's Taronga Zoo in 2016 to help expand the genetics within the regional zoological breeding program.
When older, Kamili will play a vital role in the breeding program which aims to protect against extinction.
Wild giraffe have had a 40 per cent decline in population over the last 30 years.
Comments attributed to Environment Minister Stephen Dawson:
"I am excited to announce the name of Perth Zoo's female giraffe calf is Kamili, which means perfection in Swahili.
"The name was chosen from hundreds submitted via a competition on Perth Zoo's Facebook page, which gave the community the opportunity to celebrate this important birth.
"The birth of Kamili is the culmination of a lot of hard work by Perth Zoo staff and collaboration with other regional zoos. With less than 80,000 wild giraffe roaming the Africa Plains, the ultimate aim was for successful breeding to help fight extinction.
"The hard work has paid off and the calf has already been extremely popular with the WA community and tourists alike.
"More than 13,600 people came to the zoo over the Easter long weekend, primarily to see the new calf. The Easter break also saw Perth Zoo break a record, welcoming their 23,000th Zoo Friend member. This annual pass is great value for money, makes the zoo more accessible for our local community and enables families to come back time and time again to enjoy the developments and see the new arrivals at the zoo.
"With Perth Zoo turning 120 this year, it is fantastic to see so many people continually engaged in this premier local attraction and learning about wildlife conservation."
Minister's office - 6552 5800
