Nehru Zoological Park celebrates World Giraffe Day with cake for giraffe Bunny

Hyderabad’s Nehru Zoological Park celebrated World Giraffe Day by treating its lone giraffe, Bunny, to a special cake. Officials also conducted awareness sessions on giraffes. Bunny has been living alone since the death of his companions, with plans for a partner pending.

Hyderabad: For Bunny, who has been leading a solitary life in his enclosure, this Sunday was a special occasion as the Nehru Zoological Park celebrated World Giraffe Day. The towering animal was treated to a 5 kg cake made from fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, nuts and beans by in-house zoo staff.

Bunny was brought to Hyderabad under an animal exchange programme from the Kolkata Zoo, along with a female partner, Bubli, in 2019. However, Bubli passed away after a brief illness in 2021.

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After Bubli passed away, the zoo was left with two male giraffes, Bunny and 20-year-old Tsunami Basant, who also passed away in October 2024. Since then, the 10-year-old Bunny has been leading a solitary life in the sprawling zoo.

Earlier, the Hyderabad Zoo management had planned to procure a female partner for Bunny from Mysore Zoo under the animal exchange programme. However, the plan is yet to materialise.

Meanwhile, the zoo organised two sessions of animal keepers’ talk shows with Buchanna, assistant animal keeper of the giraffe enclosure and Deepak Tharun, Zoo Educational Officer, Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad. They delivered a lecture on giraffes’ habits, habitat, lifespan, feed, and behaviour. Giraffes are native to Africa, herbivores, and live in groups. They have different patterns of skin that can be seen depending on the climate.

Nehru Zoological Park Deputy Curator J Muralidhar said World Giraffe Day is celebrated on June 21 every year, as the day is the longest in the calendar year and giraffes are the tallest animal on the earth.

Nehru Zoological Park Curator J Vasantha said the zoo management has been conducting wildlife awareness sessions on a regular basis to bring more awareness among the visitors.