Olive and Neighomi meet their neighbors

It’s an exciting time to be part of the Hoofstock Care Team! This past fall, we welcomed Olive, a 1-year-old female ostrich, and Neighomi, a 2-year-old female zebra. Both have been moving toward integrating into our mixed-species African Savanna habitat, which is home to giraffes, ostriches, and zebras in a shared space. Introducing new animals into a mixed-species habitat is a complicated process that often takes months and changes to meet the needs of each individual animal.

After their initial routine quarantine periods, Olive and Neighomi began exploring more of their behind-the-scenes areas and meeting their conspecifics (a fancy term for the other animals of the same species). For Olive, this involved getting some time alone to explore the habitat before meeting the Zoo’s resident ostrich, female Purple.

In Neighomi’s case, we knew that, as a herd animal, she would be more comfortable exploring the habitat with her new zebra BFF, female Imara. Once they were comfortable out on the habitat with their conspecifics (a word you totally know now), it was time to meet some other animals!

We have had great luck with these next steps. The ostrich and giraffe introductions went swimmingly. Olive seems to love being around the giraffes and follows them around. Neighomi was a little alarmed when she first saw the towering giraffes on the opposite side of a fence, but she quickly became comfortable seeing them. Their full introductions also went extremely well! Neighomi laid down and rolled in the dirt on the first day of introductions. That is the behavior of a happy zebra who feels safe in her environment, so we were thrilled to see it!

At the moment, we are able to have either ostriches and giraffes in the habitat, or zebras and giraffes. The next step will be to get all three species cohabitating at once. With how well things have gone so far, we’re hopeful for smooth sailing in this final part of the process. At your next visit, make sure to come by and check out our progress with the group!

Michelle E.
Senior Keeper, Mammals