ST. LOUIS — The Saint Louis Zoo is offering visitors the chance to get face-to-face with the giraffes at Red Rocks this summer.
Visitors can choose to participate in feeding opportunities with the gentile giants at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. each day. For just $5 per person, you can offer the giraffes two crispy lettuce leaves, and they'll use their 18-inch-long tongues to grab them from the end of a stick.
Tickets, which go on sale about 15 minutes before feeding time each day, will be available to purchase at the kiosk near the south end of the Antelope House in Red Rocks. A limited number of tickets are available each day.
Those who participate in the feeding will also get the opportunity to get up close with the zoo's three new reticulated giraffes: 1.5-year-old Luna, 1.5-year-old Gomer and 2-year-old Honey. The group arrived at the Saint Louis Zoo this spring.
The zoo offered the following tips for telling apart the three newcomers and two older giraffes, almost-13-year-old Ella and 19-year-old Sukari:
- Honey is petite and known for her sweet-yet-brave personality. She has dark spots on her face.
- Gomer is a little goofy, often following around the others. He's the only male, and he has very pale spots on his face and head.
- Luna is cautious and tends to hang back from the group before joining in new experiences. She has light tan spots on her head and face.
- Ella is observant and tends to investigate new things. She has a heart-shaped spot on her left shoulder.
- Sukari has whiter hair on her head and in the spaces between her spots. She was born at the Saint Louis Zoo, and her name means "sugar" in Swahili.
Giraffes are the tallest living land animal, according to the zoo. Native to the savannas in eastern Africa, their spotted pattern helps them to camouflage from predators in the wild. Adult males can range in height from 16 feet to 18 feet. Females are a little smaller, ranging from 14 feet to 16 feet tall.
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