Benito the giraffe has been “perfectly welcomed” into the herd at a wildlife preserve near Puebla, Mexico, with his caretakers describing him as healthy, curious – and a flirt.
“We’ve seen an incredible change in this giraffe’s attitude,” Frank Carlos Camacho, head of Africam Safari, said in Spanish during a Jan. 27 press conference before Benito was introduced to the rest of the herd. “His eyes open much wider, he’s smelling all his surroundings, licking the walls, looking for the females.”
Benito, a 4-year-old male, was transferred from a public park in Ciudad Juárez to the 1,000-acre Africam Safari nearly two weeks ago after a public outcry over his living conditions in the border city.
After a 30-hour journey, he arrived at Africam Safari and was quarantined while caretakers ran an array of tests. He was treated for intestinal parasites and with a change of diet is now healthy and eating well, Camacho states in a series of updates on Instagram.
Watch Benito meet his new family here: (Note: The video is in Spanish and starts with a short press conference before you see Benito join the herd and dive into a special “welcome” cake.)
Here’s why Benito has been called coqueto, or flirtatious, in these close-up shots by the media outlets Milenio and Milenio Puebla as he greets females in the herd:
Earlier this week, Africam’s Camacho provided an update on Benito in English. Watch it here:
You can also watch the English video update on Africam Safari’s Facebook page here.
Benito is noble, gentle and calm, Camacho said, adding that he’s also likely to be among the tallest in the herd. He’s distinguishable because his spots, some of which are shaped like four-leaf clovers, are darker than those on the other giraffes. He also has a longer tail.
The post Watch: Benito the giraffe healthy, a ‘flirt’ in new Africam Safari home appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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